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The Kansas City Chiefs will begin the season without their biggest free agent acquisition from this offseason, Marquise Brown. On Friday, coach Andy Reid announced that Brown won't play in the season opener against the Baltimore Ravens.

While they will be without him to start, they may not be without him for very long. Chiefs GM Brett Veach told reporters on Thursday that Brown's recovery from a sternoclavicular injury is going well. Reid added that the 27-year-old's progress has been "incredible."

"I don't like talking about medical [things] because if I say something and [a player is] ahead of that timeline -- or behind that timeline -- then I don't want to put any more pressure on the kid," Veach said, via Arrowhead Pride

"I could probably confidently say it was similar to Tyreek [Hill]; it falls in line with the timeline that [he] went through. But I know [Brown is] here every day -- and he's to the point now where he can laugh without pain; that's a good thing. So he's certainly trending in the right direction -- and there was a reason why we didn't put him on the IR [to begin the] season."

That description matches what was expected when Brown first suffered the injury during a preseason game and it was almost immediately described as being similar to the one that caused Hill to miss four Chiefs games back in 2019. 

Brown was one of two big additions to the wide receiver room this offseason, along with first-round pick Xavier Worthy. They are each expected to bring an element of speed and explosiveness back to the offense after the team pivoted heavily toward short and intermediate passes and slowly matriculating the ball down the field over the past two seasons. 

Along with Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice, Brown and Worthy should be among the leading contributors in the passing game when they are on the field. Worthy will likely begin the season with a slightly larger-than-expected role due to Brown's absence, but each of them should remain major contributors once Brown gets back to fully health.