Chiefs are protecting Hollywood Brown now to avoid disaster later

Marquise "Hollywood" Brown is a vital component to the Kansas City Chiefs' offense for the 2025 season. That's the reason fans haven't seen him late in training camp or heard about him at practice recently.

According to head coach Andy Reid, the Chiefs are taking a measured, cautious approach with Brown's recovery from an ankle injury that's bothered him for the second half of training camp. Not only did Brown miss numerous days of practice in St. Joseph, but he also sat out the first two preseason games against the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks.

Per Reid, the team is allowing Brown to slowly work his way back onto the field knowing they still have a few weeks before the start of the regular season—a road trip to Sao Paulo, Brazil to face the Los Angeles Chargers on Friday, September 5.

The Chiefs are holding back on Hollywood Brown with the long-term view in mind.

"Yeah, so Hollywood did a little work yesterday, which was good. He'll get a little bit more today and then we'll just see. We'll see how he progresses through this thing," said Reid.

Reid explained that the team has the long-term view in mind when it comes to Brown's health, so rushing him back for the start of the season—and certainly to get some preseason reps—is not worth it. Rather, the Chiefs would much rather usher Brown back onto the field only when he's fully recovered and the likelihood of complications is minimal.

"It's not a matter of wanting to be out there. He wants to do it. It's just taking it slow, so we don't want any setbacks with this thing going forward," said Reid.

The Chiefs re-signed Brown this offseason on another one-year deal, a chance for the veteran wide receiver to rebound from a year largely lost to a clavicle injury suffered during the preseason last year with the Chiefs. Brown missed all but two regular-season games and the Chiefs' offense sputtered after watching him and Rashee Rice lost for the majority of the season.

Brown had only 9 catches for 91 yards last season with the Chiefs. Before that, he had 313 catches for 3,644 yards and 28 touchdowns in his previous five seasons with the Baltimore Ravens and Arizona Cardinals. Together with Rice and last year's first-round pick Xavier Worthy, Brown is expected to form the primary WR nucleus for Patrick Mahomes.