The Chiefs will have to do without their top offseason signing for the foreseeable future.
Wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown has been placed on the injured list and will undergo surgery to repair a dislocated sternoclavicular joint in his shoulder, the team announced Friday.
Brown, whom the Chiefs signed to a one-year, $7 million contract last offseason, suffered the SC joint dislocation when he caught a pass after being tackled on the Chiefs’ first play of the first preseason game, a 26-13 loss to the Jaguars.
He’s been out ever since.
The Chiefs had originally decided not to place Brown on the injured list when finalizing their roster before the regular season, but team coach Rick Burkholder said Friday that the injury had not healed properly.
“The protocol is to look at it in a week and make sure it’s still there. It was,” Burkholder said. “He did great in rehab, we talked about a return-to-play plan. Four weeks after the injury, he had to review a picture and it looked like the bone had moved.”
“Everyone involved thought it was too risky to play without surgery. He’ll get it repaired and then we’ll see. There’s no timetable because we don’t know yet (how the surgery will go).”
Head coach Andy Reid said Friday that Brown, 27, will be out for “months.”
“He’s a great kid, I can tell you that, and nobody wanted to do this more than him,” Reid said. “We’re hurting for him, but he’s going to bounce back and be ready whenever that is. It takes a long time for that to happen, though.”
Brown recorded 51 catches for 574 yards and four touchdowns with the Cardinals last year, a season after hauling in 67 catches for 709 yards and three touchdowns in his first season with the team.
The Ravens drafted Brown number 25 in the 2019 draft and he spent his first three seasons in Baltimore.
In 2021, he had the best season of his career, recording 91 catches for 1,008 yards and six touchdowns.
In the following offseason, the Ravens traded Brown and a third-round pick (No. 100) to the Cardinals for the 23rd overall pick in the 2022 draft.
And now his tenure with the Chiefs will have to wait.
“Disappointment, frustration and sadness were the first feelings I felt when I realized I was going to have to have surgery but that only lasted a day or so because I believe in God,” Brown posted on X. “I knew that no matter what great opportunity came my way, this too would pass. It’s not over and this is not the path God intended for me and I am completely at peace with that now. I feel it is my duty to share it with everyone out there whether things are going well or not the way you want them to. You must never give up your faith but rely on God and trust Him in every situation… With that being said, let’s enjoy some great football!! Let’s go Chiefs!! See you soon.”
