Andy Reid – Chiefs spread the ball around with Rashee Rice out

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Xavier Worthy, 21, suddenly becomes the Kansas City Chiefs’ top wide receiver after they lost Hollywood Brown and Rashee Rice to injuries.

Worthy, the Chiefs’ first-round draft pick, leads the team’s healthy wideouts in catches (9), yards (154) and touchdowns (2).

But coach Andy Reid said the Chiefs plan to spread the ball around to all their receivers rather than just asking Worthy to make up for lost production in the absence of Rice, who injured his right knee in the Chiefs’ win over the Los Angeles. Chargers on Sundays.

“We have guys here that have experience playing the game,” Reid said. “It’s not like he’s the only one, he doesn’t have to be the only one. We’ve got a good group of guys there that we can use, and normally we spread the ball around and that’s what we’ll continue to strive for.”

Reid said the Chiefs did not have all the results of tests given to Rice to confirm the extent of the injury, but he ruled the receiver out for Monday night’s game against the New Orleans Saints. Sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Sunday that Rice is feared to have suffered a torn ACL.

Worthy had three catches for 73 yards against the Chargers. One was a 54-yard touchdown, the other a 15-yard reception on third down late in the game, allowing the Chiefs to run out the clock.

“I thought Xavier showed what he could do,” Reid said. “He still had a few potential opportunities there that we couldn’t quite get, but you got a chance to at least see him operate there and do some nice things as one of the primary receivers.

Reid suggested JuJu Smith-Schuster and Skyy Moore were two wide receivers who could get more playing time. Smith-Schuster, the Chiefs’ top wide receiver in 2022, re-signed with the Chiefs this summer after being released by the New England Patriots.

“Pat (Mahomes) has a lot of confidence in him,” Reid said. “He’s still a good football player.”

Moore, a second-round draft pick in 2022, has yet to develop into a consistently reliable receiver. He has dropped a number of passes, including one against the Chargers.

“He gave us some good downs,” Reid said. “He had that one drop on third down yesterday that he knows he has to make, but he’s given us some good downs in these four games, so we’re in good shape there.”

Tight end Travis Kelce had his most productive game of the season against the Chargers, catching seven passes for 89 yards.

“It was good to see that, which we knew was going to happen here somewhere,” Reid said. “They played zone quite a bit, had Kelce work in zones, and they didn’t pressure him. That.”

The Chiefs, who are also missing injured running back Isiah Pacheco, also got a boost from Kareem Hunt, who played in his first game since signing. Hunt led the Chiefs in rushing with 69 yards.

“We all had a lot of confidence in Kareem since he was here and we kind of know how he is and he’s been able to pick things up pretty quickly,” Reid said. “So I think we’re doing well. (his workload).”