By Dave Skretta
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs are opening the practice window for wide receiver Marquise Brown, who has been on the injured list since hurting his shoulder in their preseason opener, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Friday.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the move.
Brown will have a 21-day window to practice before the Chiefs must decide whether to activate him, though his return could come much sooner than that. Brown will not play in Sunday’s game in Cleveland, but he could return the following week for a Saturday matinee against Houston or a trip to Pittsburgh on Christmas Day.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid was expected to address reporters after Friday’s practice.
“He’s getting close. He’s chomping at the bit to get out there,” Reid said earlier this week. “He’s got to visit with the doctors and make sure he gets clearance there. I would probably say he’s getting close. I can’t give you a date.”
Brown took part in the entire offseason program with Kansas City, even spending time with quarterback Patrick Mahomes in Texas, only to dislocate the sternoclavicular joint in his shoulder when he was tackled on the first play of the preseason game against Jacksonville.
The injury was only expected to keep Brown out for a matter of weeks, but when the joint was not healing properly, the Chiefs and their premier free-agent acquisition decided to have surgery to repair it. The hope all along was that Brown could heal in time to help during the playoffs; Kansas City already has clinched the AFC West for a ninth straight year and has a two-game lead in the race for the No. 1 seed and first-round bye.
“As a person we’re excited to get Hollywood back whenever he’s ready, just because his personality is so infectious,” Chiefs wide receivers coach Joe Bleymaier said. “The football side of stuff, he’s built those reps, that camaraderie with Pat (Mahomes) and the other receivers — he’s been here. He’s done it. He’s done it in the past, he just hasn’t done it in a game, which is strange.”
Brown will be returning to a wide receiver corps that looks vastly different than the Chiefs expected in the offseason.
The Chiefs signed veteran JuJu Smith-Schuster after Brown was hurt for additional depth, then watched Rashee Rice go down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 4 against the Chargers. The Chiefs promptly engineered a trade with the Titans to get three-time All-Pro Deandre Hopkins, then lost Mecole Hardman last week to a knee injury.
Just about the only constant has been first-round pick Xavier Worthy, who went through some early growing pains but has been playing his best football of late. He leads the Chiefs’ wide receivers with 38 catches for 448 yards and four touchdowns.
Brown signed a $7 million deal with Kansas City in the hopes that a big season with Mahomes and Co. would translate into a multiyear deal next offseason. He has 313 catches for 3,644 yards and 28 TDs over his first five seasons in the NFL.
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