A brutal early collision in São Paulo
Three plays into the new season, Kansas City’s plan blew up on a crossing route. On the opening drive against the Los Angeles Chargers in São Paulo, wideout Xavier Worthy injury headlines took over after he and tight end Travis Kelce ran into each other at full speed. Kelce popped up. Worthy didn’t. He grabbed his right shoulder, stayed down, and then walked off with a towel over his head, clearly frustrated.
Trainers worked on Worthy along the sideline as he let the arm hang, grimacing between evaluations. The team initially listed him as questionable to return. By the second quarter, that changed to out. On television replays, the impact looked like a classic friendly-fire collision—two crossing routes in opposite directions, a split-second misread, and no time to brace for contact.
There was quick sideline chatter that the shoulder may have been dislocated, but the Chiefs won’t know the full picture until imaging is done. The plan is for an MRI when the team gets back to Kansas City. In the short term, that leaves Patrick Mahomes without his most explosive receiver at a time when the Chiefs have little margin for error at the position.
The scoreboard didn’t do them any favors either. The Chargers won 27-21, and the first quarter showed how much the offense felt Worthy’s absence. Mahomes was 1-of-6 for 6 yards when targeting receivers in the opening frame. The ball stuck. The spacing wasn’t clean. Kansas City leaned on quick outlets and Kelce, but Los Angeles sat on underneath routes and tackled well in space.
Worthy’s exit stings because of what he became down the stretch last season. As a rookie, the former first-round pick out of Texas led Chiefs wide receivers with 59 catches for 638 yards and six touchdowns over 17 games. In the playoffs, his role spiked: 19 receptions for 287 yards and three scores across three games, including a touchdown in the Super Bowl loss to Philadelphia. He arrived this year with the green light to do even more.
That larger role wasn’t just a hope—it was necessity. Rashee Rice is suspended for six games under the NFL’s personal conduct policy, and the Chiefs built much of their early-season plan around Worthy’s speed to tilt coverage and open up the middle of the field. When he left, Kansas City lost its best vertical stressor and its jet-motion threat, two elements that shape how defenses align snap to snap.
On the play itself, the collision came from a common concept. The Chiefs love crossing routes to stress zone rules and create traffic against man coverage. Timing is everything. Even small deviations in depth or speed can close space fast. This time, the two biggest passing targets on the field found the same piece of turf at the wrong moment. It happens, but it’s rare to see it knock a top receiver out on the first series of the year.
Shoulder injuries in these situations typically tend to be one of a few things—an AC joint sprain, a contusion, or a dislocation. Recovery ranges from a week or two for a mild sprain to several weeks for a more serious separation or after a dislocation, depending on stability and pain tolerance. That’s the general NFL pattern. The exact timeline for Worthy will ride on the MRI and how he responds to treatment over the next 48 to 72 hours.
What it means for Kansas City
Short term, Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Matt Nagy will likely spread the target load and lean on tempo, motion, and bunch formations to free up the remaining receivers. Expect more running back involvement on choice routes, more quick-game to keep Mahomes ahead of the sticks, and a heavier diet of middle-field reads for Kelce if coverage dictates it.
The bigger challenge is explosive plays. Worthy’s speed forces safeties to back up. Without that constant threat, defenses can squeeze passing windows and sit on Kansas City’s staple concepts. That means the Chiefs need to manufacture shot opportunities with layered play-action, double moves off their screen game, and well-timed verticals out of condensed sets.
The timing is awkward, too. The Chiefs face the Philadelphia Eagles next at Arrowhead Stadium, and the Eagles’ pass rush punishes long-developing plays. If Worthy can’t go, the game plan likely tilts toward fast answers for Mahomes and matchups that isolate Kelce or a back on a linebacker. Kansas City’s margin grows thin if down-and-distance gets ugly.
This is also a roster-management moment. With Rice unavailable to start the season, Kansas City may need to elevate a practice-squad receiver, tweak roles, or add specific packages to highlight whoever best approximates Worthy’s field-stretching traits. It won’t replicate his acceleration, but it can keep defenses honest for a week or two.
If you’re looking for signals over the next few days, watch for three things: how the team lists Worthy on the initial injury report, whether the Chiefs bring in free agents for workouts, and how Reid discusses personnel groupings. Teams often tip their plans without naming them—more 12 personnel (two tight ends) or heavier backfield usage can say plenty about confidence in the wide receiver room.
For Mahomes, this is back to problem-solving mode. He’s handled shorthanded stretches before by protecting the ball, living in the quick game, and then striking when defenses get impatient. The defense will have to carry a little more weight, special teams can flip field position, and the offense must avoid the empty possessions that stacked up early against the Chargers.
Worthy’s injury dims what should have been a splashy start in Brazil. It’s a reminder that Week 1 can be chaotic—new scripts, new roles, and, sometimes, bad luck. The Chiefs will wait on the MRI and hope for good news. If they get it, they can recalibrate fast. If not, September becomes a test of creativity and depth.
- Worthy left on the opening drive with a right shoulder injury after colliding with Travis Kelce.
- He was ruled out in the second quarter; the Chargers won 27-21.
- Mahomes started 1-of-6 for 6 yards when throwing to receivers in the first quarter.
- Worthy will have an MRI when the team returns home ahead of the Eagles game.
- With Rashee Rice suspended six games, the Chiefs must reshuffle targets and create explosives without their top deep threat.