Marquise Brown's preseason shoulder injury will likely keep him out of Kansas City's regular-season opener.
Coach Andy Reid told reporters Friday he does not expect the Chiefs' offseason acquisition to play in Thursday's 2024 NFL Kickoff Game against the Ravens, Brown's former team.
Brown suffered a sternoclavicular dislocation -- an injury more commonly associated with vehicular accidents than football -- during Kansas City's preseason opener against Jacksonville, requiring a trip to the hospital for further evaluation.
The Chiefs have some history with the ailment, as former star wideout Tyreek Hill suffered a similar injury in 2019, causing him to miss four games. Because Brown's occurred at the start of the preseason, there was some hope he might return in time to face the team that selected him in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
Instead, Kansas City will take the cautious approach with Brown, knowing that he could be back relatively quickly.
"Well, I don't like talking about medical because if I say something and he's ahead of that timeline or behind that timeline then I don't want to put any more pressure on the kid," Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said Thursday. "I would say that -- and I'm sure it's been reported -- I mean, I probably can confidently say it was similar to Tyreek, and I think given that timeline I think it falls within the timeline that Tyreek went through, but I know he's here every day. He's to the point now where he can laugh without pain, so that's a good thing.
"He's certainly trending in the right direction, and look, there was a reason why we didn't put him on the IR to start the season. I think within that window, defer to (vice president of sports medicine and performance) Rick (Burkholder), but I feel like he's probably on that trajectory Tyreek was on."
The short week leading up to the Thursday showcase will give Brown a few extra days between the Chiefs' first two games. We'll see if that is enough to lead him back onto the field.
