Patrick Mahomes' WR faces major setback as Chiefs deliver concerning update ahead of Chargers clash in Brazil

The Kansas City Chiefs received a major blow on Wednesday after the team officially announced that rookie wide receiver Jalen Royals will not travel to Brazil for the Week 1 clash against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Last week, Chiefs coach Andy Reid had said the rookie would miss Friday's season opener and the team confirmed the news on Wednesday in a social media announcement.

Jalen Royals has been out of action since the second preseason game as he has been dealing with knee tendonitis. He missed the third preseason game for the team, along with the final week of training, recovering from his knee injury. He didn't participate in any of Kansas City's practices this week.

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The Chiefs had to decide on the rookie WR's inclusion in the roster ahead of their flight to Brazil on Wednesday. While Royals will have to wait for his NFL debut, it is a blow for the Chiefs as they are already without Rashee Rice, who is serving a six-game suspension and is expected to be back in Week 7.

With Royals and Rice unavailable, the Chiefs will rely on a receiver room featuring Hollywood Brown, Xavier Worthy, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thornton, Nikko Remigio and Jason Brownlee.

Patrick Mahomes will have Marquise Brown at his disposal for Chargers clash

One of the positives for the Chiefs is the availability of Marquise Brown for the start of the season. Brown suffered an injury during training-camp practice but has recovered in time and could feature for the Week 1 clash against the Chargers. He discussed his chemistry with Patrick Mahomes after Tuesday's practice.

“A lot. I mean, it's easy to build chemistry with a guy like that," Brown said. "So, it's basically feeling our speed, feeling how I like to do things, and from that point on, the guys, you know he gets it there.”

Although Brown hasn't had any snaps in the preseason, the 28-year-old is up for the challenge in Brazil.

“I don't really look at it as challenge," Brown said. "I mean, I've been blessed to play this game for a while, so just excited to get to Brazil.”

It'll be interesting to see the WR on the depth chart the Chiefs go with for their season opener against the Chargers on Friday.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

Know More

Chiefs Fans! Check out the latest Kansas City Chiefs Schedule and dive into the Chiefs Depth Chart for NFL Season 2024-25.

Edited by Chaitanya Prakash