Chiefs may have dodged a bullet with Hollywood Brown (but the risk remains)

Just like that, it would be easy for Chiefs Kingdom to breathe easy and go back to projections of an offensive return to the fireworks that were so brightly displayed in Patrick Mahomes first few seasons as the team's starting quarterback.

Chiefs Kingdom can breathe at least a bit easier after getting some good news on Hollywood's health.

The problem is that Tuesday's injury news is the more likely (eventual) outcome for Brown in 2025 than a fully healthy campaign.

Brown signed with the Chiefs for the first time just over a year ago in free agency after spending a couple of seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. Brown would injure his clavicle while making his first catch in a preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. From there, Brown would go on to miss all but two regular-season games for the Chiefs.

The Chiefs decided to re-sign Brown this offseason in the hopes that he could return healthy this year, but therein lies the risk. There's just no way of knowing how much of Brown the Chiefs will get. Fortunately, his one-year contract reflects that risk.

The good news is that the sky doesn't have to be falling in terms of Brown's availability. He's not injured all the time, nor is he an ironman. The track record is somewhere in between. Brown has averaged 12 games played in his six NFL seasons, and maybe that's a total the Chiefs would be thrilled to see—especially if available in the postseason.

When in Arizona, Brown played in 85 percent of all snaps in 2024 and 91 percent in 2023 while appearing in 26 total games. He played in all 32 games in the two seasons before that with the Baltimore Ravens. That said, the following is also true:

The positive outlook is that Brown is not injured severely and Schultz's report says he could return as soon as the next day. It's also true that he's enjoyed instant chemistry with Mahomes since the moment he arrived in Kansas City in the first place, so fans should expect his presence on the field to be impactful no matter how available he is.