The first half of the season brought nothing but bad news for the Kansas City Chiefs in terms of player health. Fortunately the second half of the year is seeing many of those players making their way back to the field.
The Chiefs received great news on the injury front on Sunday with word from NFL reporter Ian Rapoport that wide receiver Marquise "Hollywood" Brown is on the mend and could return sooner than expected.
The Chiefs have to be thrilled with the news of Brown's potential return.
Per Rapoport, Brown is set to meet with the doctor who performed his surgery to get clearance to return to the field. That appointment, per Rapoport, is in Week 15. "At that point, if all goes as well as it has been, he's expected back on the practice field and could even play in Weeks 16 or 17."
The Chiefs are scheduled to host the L.A. Chargers in Week 14 and visit the Cleveland Browns in Week 15. After that comes two games on short weeks (a stretch of 3 games in 10 days), which includes hosting the Houston Texans and then visiting the Pittsburgh Steelers. Getting Brown back as some fresh help would be paramount at that point in the season.
Brown was originally believed to be out for the entire season after suffering a sternoclavicular injury with his first catch in his first preseason game for the Chiefs. It was a tragic loss for both sides after Brown signed a single-season deal with K.C. this spring as a way of betting on himself and rebuilding his market value by signing up to catch passes from Patrick Mahomes.
The Chiefs envisioned their offense taking a vertical leap in 2024 with the drafting of Xavier Worthy and the signing of Brown. Worthy has taken time to grow into a trusted target, as expected, but the loss of Brown along with Rashee Rice's injury has robbed the Chiefs of that initial vision. With his return and the presence of DeAndre Hopkins, the Chiefs could have hope for bigger things in the postseason.
Brown had 51 catches for 574 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns for the Arizona Cardinals last season.