Hollywood Brown’s shoulder injury is even worse than anyone thought

Signing Hollywood Brown was the Kansas City Chiefs big move to beef up their receiving corps in 2024. Patrick Mahomes throwing to the speedster was a fun idea while it lasted.

Not only is Brown on IR, which we knew, but he's not expected back this year, which we didn't know.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the unfortunate injury update on Saturday:

"There still is a chance Brown could return for the postseason, but he is not expected back any sooner than mid-January."

Hollywood Brown injury update: Chiefs WR expected out until January

Going on IR initially indicated Brown would miss at least four weeks of action. Andy Reid made it clear it would be more time missed than just those weeks too. That was tough enough. Finding out he won't be available until the playoffs at the earliest? That's devastating.

The Chiefs have Rashee Rice leading the way at receiver. However, his status is still clouded in uncertainty because of the charges he faces for reckless driving over the summer. Right now, it looks like he won't face an NFL suspension this year, but you never know if that might change.

After Rice, Kansas City has high hopes for rookie Xavier Worthy, who caught a touchdown in his debut.

And of course, there's Travis Kelce as a steady pass catching option from the tight end spot.

Outside of those, Mahomes' receiving options leave something to be desired. The Chiefs did bring back JuJu Smith-Schuster for some veteran depth. Justin Watson, Skyy Moore and Mecole Hardman are...well...uninspiring.

Mahomes has made lemonade out of lemons in his receiving corps before, so Brown's absence shouldn't cause a panic. But it should cause a deep sigh of disappointment. It genuinely would have been fun to see Mahomes operate with Rice, Worthy and Brown at his disposal.

Hey, maybe we'll see it in January.

Brown was entering his sixth season in the league. He spent three years with the Ravens, racking up 2,361 yards and 21 touchdowns along the way. He landed in Arizona in 2022 and saw his production dip slightly, still coming away with 1,283 yards and seven touchdowns in two seasons.