Hollywood Brown's injury will keep Chiefs from any early returns on one-year bet

Marquise Brown bet on himself in a big way coming to Kansas City on a one-year deal this offseason.

While there's a lot at stake for almost every single player in the NFL preseason, it's also true that every team would say one thing is far more important than anything else: staying healthy.

Beyond the roster battles, the gained experience, the plays rehearsed, the truth is that every NFL franchise is praying and hoping to come through each of their three exhibitions unscathed. After all, the regular season is long enough—an arduous road of 17 games jumbled by a corporate-informed primetime schedule featuring a single bye week of rest.

So when Marquise Brown went down on the first series of the first preseason game, it felt like a punishing stomach punch.

The Chiefs signed Brown this offseason as their prized free agent addition, a tremendous buy-low opportunity to land a proven volume receiver at a nice discount for a single season. Suddenly he was the best wide receiver on the team, one year after the entire unit was associated with one letdown after another.

To lose Brown to an injury this early felt like some sort of curse had befallen the franchise, and Chiefs Kingdom had its fingers crossed hoping that the early "questionable" designation associated with Brown's shoulder injury was a hopeful sign. As it turned out, Brown might be out for some time.

If that's true, that means Brown suffered a sternoclavicular injury (say that five times fast) and the same thing kept Tyreek out of four games after also leaving in Week 1 in 2019. Hill was back in Week 6 with an 80-yard effort that season and we all remember how that year ultimately turned out. Head coach Andy Reid confirmed this with a post-game press conference.

"As far as the injuries go, Hollywood Brown has that same thing that Tyreek had down here actually," Reid said. "Sternoclavicular post dislocation. They've taken him to the hospital. They'll check him out, and they're working on that as we speak." 

At the point of the injury, the Chiefs have about four weeks before they host the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday, September 5 to kick off the regular season. From there, they have another 10 days before playing in Week 2, which gives them some space to work with, especially if they count on Brown going ahead and missing that opening salvo against the team that drafted him. But if he's on injured reserve, he might have to miss more games than that.

Here's the thing: Brown made a major bet on himself this offseason by taking a one-year deal with the Chiefs. And the Chiefs made a major bet on Brown by making him the primary acquisition in a room that was frustrating on multiple levels.

Brown's injury history isn't extensive but there have been concerns before, so it's not as if this sort of issue is blindsiding anyone. Injuries are freak occurrences, yes, but it's also true that some players have a harder time staying upright than others in the NFL. Just last year, he missed 2 games with a heel injury and finished the '22 season on IR with a foot injury.

Brown still has plenty of time to justify the risky move he made this offseason, but every ounce of margin is gone at this point. If the injury becomes more complicated, the margin is gone. If he needs time to develop some offensive chemistry, that margin is gone. For his part, if he wants to make good on a return to the free agent market in 2025, Brown will need to hit the ground running upon his return.

As for the Chiefs, the loss of Brown for any length of time is going to hurt, After all, they signed Brown to be a major boost to a largely disappointing room of wide receivers from last year. However, the team is already in better shape with the maturation of Rashee Rice, the health of Travis Kelce, and the addition of Xavier Worthy. Remember, the most important thing for the Chiefs is coming together for the postseason run at a third consecutive Super Bowl.