After a breakout with the Baltimore Ravens and a subsequent move to the Arizona Cardinals, Marquise Brown, aka Hollywood Brown, found himself with the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs this offseason. However, due to a preseason injury, he has yet to play for the team — when might that change?
What Is Hollywood Brown’s Injury?
Brown suffered a major shoulder injury in the Chiefs’ preseason opener, which was later diagnosed as a dislocated sternoclavicular joint in his left shoulder. Now, he’s missed 10 games, although it looks like he might be able to make a return to the field this season.
The speedy wideout is no stranger to injury issues. Brown has missed at least two games in four of his first six NFL seasons, including this campaign with the Chiefs. This is the most time he’s missed, however, as his previous career-low in terms of games played is 12 appearances in 2022.
Most of Brown’s previous injuries affected his lower body, such as some foot and ankle issues, a knee sprain, and even thigh and glute troubles. This upper-body injury is essentially uncharted territory for him.
When Will Brown Return From Injury?
When Brown was initially diagnosed, there was some hope that the injury might heal naturally after the shoulder was re-set, but when that didn’t happen, that optimism was replaced by fear that Brown could miss the entire season.
In honor of Marquise Brown’s 24th birthday, here’s a video of his first career NFL game, as he let the league know that he had arrived with his first two catches going for touchdowns
Brown ended up with four receptions for 147 yards and those two scores pic.twitter.com/ZcTtVOeaCw
— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) June 4, 2021
Now, it looks like the answer might be somewhere in the middle. Brown won’t be returning in the immediate future, but he could be back before it’s too late to make an impact, especially as the Chiefs are all but guaranteed a postseason berth.
There isn’t a clear timetable for Brown’s return, but the general belief is that team doctors will monitor his progress closely over the next three to four weeks. At that point, they may be able to make a clearer determination as to when he might be able to return to the field. This could put him in a good position to make it back in time to play a game or two at the end of the regular season to get up to speed for the playoffs.
How Has Brown’s Absence Impacted the Chiefs?
Simply put, it’s hard to say since we’ve never seen him with the team. However, one thing we do know is that Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes is not playing anywhere near the MVP level he’s set as a standard — in fact, he’s not above league average by many metrics this season.
Mahomes’ play has improved, to a degree, in recent weeks. It might not be a coincidence that his uptick in production came just as the Chiefs made a move to bring in DeAndre Hopkins, who is no longer his best, All-Pro self but provided vital reinforcement at the wide receiver position.
The Chiefs’ air game is tight end-centric, with the legendary Travis Kelce as the runaway leading receiver on the team and backup Noah Gray fourth on that list; likely, it will remain that way as long as Kelce is able to perform at an adequate level. However, it will be interesting to see how the offense functions with both Hopkins and Brown active, as well as rookie speedster Xavier Worthy.