Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy was removed from the lineup during his team’s season opener following an accidental collision with teammate Travis Kelce. This occurred early in their game against the Los Angeles Chargers, played in Brazil.
Worthy, running a route underneath on a passing play at Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo, was unaware when he clashed with Kelce in the central field area.
After slowly rising to his feet, Worthy headed to the locker room with the assistance of trainers, a towel covering his head. He underwent X-rays and was then officially ruled out for the remainder of the match.
Losing Worthy would be a devastating blow to a Chiefs receiving corps which is already missing its top target.
Wideout Rashee Rice is not suited up for Kansas City as he is serving a six-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.
Rice has been in legal trouble for over a year since he was involved in a high-speed, hit-and-run car crash on a Dallas highway in March of 2024.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce collided with one of his teammates, knocking him out of the game
Kelce collided with top wide receiver Xavier Worthy as they both ran a passing play route
Back in July, Rice admitted guilt to a third-degree felony related to a significant injury-inducing collision, along with another third-degree felony for causing bodily harm.
Rice was sentenced to five-years probation and 30 days of jail time and was ordered to pay $115,481.91 to victims for medical expenses.
Rice also settled a lawsuit where he agreed to pay $1 million plus legal fees to two victims. Another lawsuit from a separate victim is still pending.
In Rice’s absence, the Chiefs hoped to lean on Worthy for most wide receiver targets. But now, they’ll need to look elsewhere on the depth chart.
Other pass catchers on Kansas City include Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thornton, and Jason Brownlee.
During his inaugural 2024 season, Worthy secured second place in receiving yards behind Kelce, leading among the team’s wideouts. He caught 59 of 98 passes for 638 yards and notched a team-high six touchdown receptions.
Losing Worthy for an extended period of time could spell trouble for the Chiefs’ hopes early in the season.
Worthy walked to the locker room with a towel over his head before being ruled out
The Chiefs have already lost receiver Rashee Rice for six games due to a suspension
After this contest, the Chiefs play the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens, and Detroit Lions over the next five games.
As for the man who injured him, Kelce is playing this game without the attendance of his fiancée and pop icon Taylor Swift.
Despite local reports indicating that she would be in the audience, sources told Daily Mail that she did not travel to Brazil.
‘The travel and the cost and most importantly the security, which goes along with the aforementioned travel and cost are all the reasons Taylor didn’t go to the game to see Travis play,’ a source revealed.
‘She would have wanted her security team there a few days ahead to make sure everything was OK. So, with all of that combined, it would have been a tremendous cost for only a few hours to be in the city.’
After briefly considering retirement, the 35-year-old Kelce could be playing in his final season and is hoping that 2025 is a massive improvement on the year prior.
Last year, Kelce had a career-low mark for yardage (823), yards-per-catch (8.5) and touchdown catches (3) in a frustrating campaign.
In the first game of the season, Kelce caught two passes for 47 yards and a touchdown. However, Kansas City came up short – falling 27-21 to the Chargers.
Up next, the Chiefs will host the Philadelphia Eagles in a rematch of Super Bowl LIX.
