Chiefs rookie WR gets activated after injury (and then totally ignored)

Nearly every member of the Kansas City Chiefs' 2025 draft class made their professional football debuts when the team took the field against the L.A. Chargers in Week 1. However, Chiefs Kingdom had to wait a couple of weeks before seeing if one rookie would make his initial appearance, as wide receiver Jalen Royals finally got a chance to play in Week 3.

The Chiefs visited MetLife Stadium on Sunday Night Football to take on the New York Giants, and Royals was finally active for a game after missing considerable time due to knee tendinitis. Somehow, despite a lackluster passing attack that could have used another weapon for Patrick Mahomes, Royals still didn't get a chance to showcase what he could do. Royals could be seen standing on the sideline for the entire game, and failed to even register a snap on special teams.

Mahomes has been searching for someone to step up in the wake of absences via suspension (Rashee Rice) and injury (Royals, Xavier Worthy) and the offense has sputtered because of the lack of playmakers. While Tyquan Thornton's emergence is a nice story, and JuJu Smith-Schuster had a couple of nice grabs, there was still plenty of room for someone else to step up—if given the chance.

We're not sure why Jalen Royals couldn't earn a single snap in Week 3 for the Chiefs' offense.

Royals was the Chiefs' fourth-round pick out of Utah State in this spring's draft at No. 133 overall. Royals entered the NFL as a very productive receiver over the last two years, with over 1,900 receiving yards and 21 touchdowns in that span. Given that his skill set mirrors that of Rice, it would make sense that the Chiefs might give Royals a chance to showcase what he can do in his absence.

Nikko Remigio had five offensive snaps on the night. Jason Brownlee had seven. That Royals couldn't even make it in for part of a single series was surprising. Any experience is helpful experience.

Then again, maybe the Chiefs felt like they couldn't play with fire. Maybe too much was on the line for a team that was already 0-2 and actively shooting itself in the foot. Maybe giving a rookie receiver a few snaps to get his footing was a luxury on a night with a single goal of escaping MetLife with a win. Andy Reid validated that last point with some comments on Monday.

"Jalen just came back, so I had him there as kind of an emergency in case we absolutely needed him, but his first week of practice in a month was last week and he’s a rookie and so on," said Reid.

The Chiefs came through with a victory in Week 3, and that's what matters most, but it seems a bit silly to keep Royals on the sideline for 60 minutes. Even a few snaps would at least allow him to ease into the offense, but the Chiefs are taking a surprisingly slow approach here.