The Chiefs continue to play it safe with their first round draft choice.
The Kansas City Chiefs aren't taking any chances with Xavier Worthy.
For the second day in a row, and really for the last couple of weeks, the Chiefs have been limiting Worthy's workouts during offseason training activies—that is, if they're even letting him practice at all. That's because he's still nursing a hamstring issue that crept up following the draft.
The Chiefs came together for the second day of three days of mandatory minicamp on Wednesday and the only players who aren't even around at all are notable injuries, so those were expected. Specifically that means offensive guard Joe Thuney and defensive end BJ Thompson, who was just released from the hospital earlier this week after experiencing cardiac arrest before a scheduled practice last Thursday.
Back to Worthy. The Chiefs drafted Worthy in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft as the fastest player in the entire draft class—having set the record for the fastest 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis with a time of 4.21 seconds. The knock against him was his build and potential durability worries, which won't be helped by his inability to practice but the Chiefs are doing the right thing by playing it safe.
As nice as it would be to see Worthy in action and as important as these reps can be for younger players, the truth is that a hamstring injury can be quite finicky and last for a long time if it's not taken care of properly. Trent McDuffie missed half of his rookie season with a hamstring, just as one example.
Better to get Worthy healthy now and have him for training camp reps in St. Joseph than to force something here and put the preseason (and beyond) in jeopardy.