Hollywood Brown Injury History: Complete Timeline & Recoveries

A first-round pick by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2019 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma, Marquise "Hollywood" Brown has been a deep speed threat since his days in the Big 12. For the last five seasons, Brown has continued to take the top off of defenses in the NFL and the Kansas City Chiefs are hoping he's part of the alchemy that will lead them to a third consecutive Super Bowl title.

To begin his career, Brown was a quality threat in Lamar Jackson’s offense for three years before moving on to the Arizona Cardinals. After two frustrating years in the desert, Brown signed a one-year deal with the Chiefs this offseason. 

Throughout the 2024 offseason and training camps, there has been much made of the addition of Brown to the Chiefs’ offense. Preliminary practice sessions showed Brown was ready to play an instrumental role in the offense, bringing back the speed and elusiveness that Kansas City has missed along the boundary since Tyreek Hill departed in 2022.

Unfortunately, Brown has a fairly lengthy injury history and the Chiefs have already felt the impact of that risk factor. Brown is already out for Week 1 against the Baltimore Ravens and he could miss more time after suffering a sternoclavicular injury early in the preseason.

As we look at Brown’s career, we will look for similar incidents of injury and if this latest injury is an isolated incident or a precursor for a nagging injury that could sideline Brown as well as Kansas City’s Super Bowl hopes this season.

Early Career and Initial Injuries

Brown saw near immediate success in the Ravens offense in 2019. Brown took the league by storm in Week 1 with 147 yards and two touchdowns. Hollywood was an instrumental piece of Baltimore’s offense as they made a run to the Divisional Round in the 2020 playoffs, falling short to the Tennessee Titans.

Brown suffered a Lisfranc injury to his foot in college, and underwent surgery before his first year in the NFL to place screws in his foot to address the issue. Then in 2020, Brown had the screws removed.

Oct. 6th, 2019 | Ankle Sprain

Brown missed time in 2019 due to injury, suffering a sprained ankle in Week 5. Brown had to miss practice as well as Weeks 6 & 7 of the regular season recovering. However, Brown returned to form in his return, helping the Ravens win out the rest of the regular season.

Oct. 7th, 2020 | Knee Patella Sprain

Brown missed practice due to a knee sprain, but was available for the Bengals game that week.

Dec. 24th, 2020 | Knee Patella Sprain

Brown once again missed practice due to reaggravating his knee sprain from Week 5. He was available for the Giants game that week.

Jul. 29th, 2021 | Hamstring

Brown suffered a hamstring injury in training camp before the season, and had to miss almost the entirety of training camp as a result.

Nov. 17th, 2021 | Thigh Injury

Brown missed the Bears game in Week 11 of the 2021 Season with a thigh bruise, and was back in action the next week and throughout the end of the season.

December, 2023 | Heel Injury

In December of 2023, Brown would suffer two heel injuries (Week 13 & Week 15) that would cause him to limp through the final 5 weeks of the 2023 season. Coach Gannon had this to say about his star receiver, “I am (concerned). It’s been going on for a little bit and he’s trying to grind through. He’s a warrior and we need him, but if he can’t go, he can’t go.”

Major Injuries and Recovery Phases

Foot Fracture (2022)

With multiple injuries to his left foot over the course of his football career going all the way back to college, Brown has a weakened right foot.

Brown once again suffered a foot fracture towards the end of a 19-9 loss to the Seahawks in Week 6 of the 2022 season. Coach Kliff Kingsbury added that Brown would be out “indefinitely”. Brown’s indefinite unavailability ultimately resulted in being placed on IR and missing the following 5 games for the Cardinals.

Among other things, this contributed to the Cardinals 4-13 record in 2022. Categorized as a “small, non-surgical fracture”, Brown was seen in a walking boot after the injury and focused on rest and recovery while on IR. Brown would return to action in Week 12 for the remainder of the season, but did not have the same production upon his return.

 S/C Joint Separation (2024)

In the first preseason game ahead of the Chiefs 2024 campaign, Brown caught a pass from Mahomes early in the first quarter and suffered a hit that led to an SC joint separation.

Before the season could even get off the ground, the Chiefs prized free agent went down. Current prognostication has Brown missing 4-6 weeks, with a return between Weeks 4 to 6 of the regular season. 

Shortly after the injury, the Chiefs confirmed the injury was non-surgical in their statement, “Chiefs WR Marquise 'Hollywood' Brown, who suffered a dislocation of his sternoclavicular shoulder joint Saturday night, was discharged from a Jacksonville-area hospital this morning and now has been cleared to return to Kansas City.”

Reid followed up afterward with the following,“They were able to get the joint back in place without surgery, which is a positive,” Reid said. “We’ll just see on the recovery. He’s back in Kansas City now. He stayed over in Jacksonville until they got that thing situated.”

Recurring Issues and Long-Term Impact

From his time in college, and throughout his career in the NFL, Brown has dealt with foot and ankle injuries that have hindered his availability across his 5 NFL seasons resulting in 11 missed games thus far in his career. Even when Hollywood has been available in the games after these injuries, he has been a shell of his former self, mostly serving as a decoy for opposing defenses.

In the games leading up to him missing five games in 2022, Brown was averaging 80 yards and a half-touchdown a game for the Arizona Cardinals. Then came his foot fracture. After those 5 missed games, Hollywood came back and just wasn't quite up to snuff. In the 6 games to close out the 2022 season, he averaged 37 yards a game and didn't log a single score.

Even though his heel injury in 2023 caused him to miss the final 3 games of the season, Brown still had a down year by his own estimates, only logging 574 yards.

Hollywood's foot injuries have been the greatest deterrent of his success in the last 2 seasons, and have led him to a precipitous fall in statistical performance since his 1,000-yard season in 2021 with the Ravens.

Similarly, players like Julio Jones in 13-14, Cooper Kupp in 22-23, and Micdsbfdfhael Thomas in 20-21 all suffered ankle injuries or foot fractures that have set them back in recent seasons. Jones is the only one on the list to have consistent success following his injury, stacking 6 straight 1,000-yard seasons after his foot fracture.

However, Thomas and Kupp weren't so lucky with their ankle injuries. Since 2020, Thomas has yet to have a season with over 500 yards receiving, and Kupp has seen a fall-off from his OPOY campaign in 2021, only playing 21 games over the last two seasons with his ankle and hamstring injuries.


There continues to be hope that Hollywood Brown could have a Julio Jones-esque return to dominance following this injury. However, the long-term impact has yet to be felt as Brown is only entering his age 27 season, but the jury will be out shortly in the coming seasons if he is unable to return to the form he established in his early career.