While the 2025-26 NFL season is still in its infancy, the Kansas City Chiefs have already dealt with a multitude of injury situations. The offensive side of the ball, in particular, is banged up as September rolls on.
Two players dominated the attention this week, with both being wide receivers. 2024 first-round pick Xavier Worthy (shoulder) and 2025 fourth-rounder Jalen Royals (knee) are rehabbing from respective ailments.
Fortunately for the reigning AFC champions, things are moving along nicely. Speaking to the media on Friday, head coach Andy Reid provided the latest on Kansas City’s injuries.
Andy Reid Drops Xavier Worthy Injury Update for Chiefs’ Week 3 Game
Reid says Worthy has “done a nice job” in practice, but he stopped short of confirming he’d play on Sunday against the New York Giants.
“We’ll see how it goes,” Reid said. “I know questions will be [about] Xavier and so on. I’ve just got to see. I mean, he practiced today and did a good job. Jalen Royals practiced today. Both of them ran around pretty good. We’ll just see how it goes.”
When asked whether it’s a question of shoulder stability, readiness or re-injury risk, Reid again deferred to a wait-and-see approach. He said he’d consult with Rick Burkholder, vice president of sports medicine and performance, to assess the wideout’s progress later on Friday. Worthy suffered his dislocated shoulder in Week 1 and was limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday.
Speaking on Wednesday, quarterback Patrick Mahomes discussed what it meant to have Worthy back on the practice field.
“Yeah, I think more than anything having him out there is just a threat in general,” Mahomes said. “He can, at any moment, take a pass — short or long — he can take it to the house. Having him out on the practice field was very encouraging last week. Obviously, we didn’t know after that injury in Brazil but seeing him out there, he wanted to stay out there. It was kinda like holding him back.
“Hopefully we can go through a good week of practice and have him out there but if not, guys will step up and guys will make plays. I’m just excited to get those guys back and be able to go out there and try to have some success on offense better than we did this last week.”
Jalen Royals Set to Make NFL Debut on Sunday Against Giants?
The bad news for the Chiefs is defensive end Mike Danna (quad) and cornerback Kristian Fulton (ankle) both missed Friday’s practice. That doesn’t bode well for either player’s availability for Sunday Night Football. On the bright side, Royals being a full participant on Thursday and getting in good work once again on Friday is a tremendously positive sign. It might just set up his professional debut.
That would be a significant development for the Day 3 pick out of Utah State. Royals not only missed practice leading up to Kansas City’s opener against the Los Angeles Chargers, but he didn’t even travel with the team. Knee tendonitis held the rookie back, but his return to work this week quickly became a full-fledged participation.
In two preseason games, Royals caught 3 passes for 14 yards. In his unofficial debut versus the Arizona Cardinals, he posted a Pro Football Focus overall offense grade of 63.0. Royals’ size and speed could help the Chiefs’ offense in a big way if he plays this weekend.