Kansas City Chiefs star Xavier Worthy has been ruled out of their game against the Philadelphia Eagles following a shoulder injury he sustained against the Chargers.
Worthy played just three snaps before he and Travis Kelce collided on an underneath route – knocking the receiver to the ground and ruling him out for the game.
Now, the Chiefs have revealed that Worthy will not be able to return to action just yet, after having a limited participation in practice during the week.
The speedster’s injury comes as his teammate Rashee Rice is already serving a six-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.
Meanwhile, Jalen Royals has also been ruled out of the game after struggling with knee tendinitis – which kept him from being involved in their Week 1 game.
The Chiefs will be looking for vengeance when they take to the field on Sunday, following their Super Bowl defeat to the Eagles earlier this year.
Xavier Worthy has been ruled out of the Chiefs’ upcoming game against the Eagles on Sunday
Worthy was injured in the Chiefs’ opening game after colliding with teammate Travis Kelce
However, losing Worthy for an extended period of time could spell trouble for the Chiefs’ hopes early in the season.
In his rookie season in 2024, Worthy finished second in receiving yards behind Kelce – making him first among the team’s wide receivers. He hauled in 59 of 98 targets for 638 yards and a team-leading six touchdown catches.
Kelce, meanwhile, took accountability for what happened in his first comments about the game in Brazil on his New Heights podcast.
‘It was a cool experience outside of us not getting off on the right foot,’ he said of the trip. ‘I’ll take the most accountability myself, I wasn’t ready that first drive. I ran into one of my guys and offed him out of the game.
‘I literally took one of my players out. That’s one of the most frustrating parts. It’s hard to get your juices back going knowing that you just hurt a guy.’
Kelce’s brother and co-host Jason said the collision was ‘jarring’ on Travis’s part, who added: ‘I’m supposed to be running my route for Worthy. It’s frustrating for me. I was kind of trying to set up my guy to get in position and it all kind of happened pretty quick.
‘I’ve just got to be better, man. I’m 13 years in the league, there’s no excuse for me running into my own guys like that. Worthy had his guy beat, we’re out the gate and the game starts completely different.’
Kelce, 35, admitted he didn’t even know how quickly Worthy will be back. The Chiefs have been coy over precisely what the issue is. Head coach Andy Reid simply said Worthy is ‘day to day’ in his recovery.
Kelce ran into teammate Xavier Worthy, who sustained a potentially major shoulder injury
Worthy left the field with a towel over his head after getting hurt so early in the game
‘I’m not sure where he exactly he is in terms of health-wise but I am hoping we get him back as fast as possible because he means so much to this team,’ Kelce added.
‘He is going to take the league by storm when he gets back, he is one of our best players.
‘I run into him and all of a sudden, one of the biggest pieces of the gameplan is out of the game. One of the fastest guys in the league – and speed kills in this league – and now they don’t have to worry about that.
‘I owe my guy big time. X knows it. I felt like s***. I could barely even f***ing play the rest of that first half but we geared it up once I found that he was in better spirits than I imagined at halftime.’
The Chiefs lost 27-21 to the Chargers, an AFC West divisional rival. Kelce scored a touchdown in the game and finished with two receptions for 47 yards.
