Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy cannot seem to escape the injury bug. Fresh off an offseason shoulder repair, the blazing-fast wideout gave Chiefs Kingdom another massive injury scare during a gritty Week 2 battle against the Indianapolis Colts. And that made LeSean McCoy suggest an unusual take for the head coach, Andy Reid.
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“I keep saying this Xavier Worthy is a waste of space,” McCoy wrote on X. “All that speed for no reason smh it’s time to move on.”
In the third quarter of the Week 2 game against the Indianapolis Colts, on a 2nd-and-10, with a couple of minutes remaining on the clock, Patrick Mahomes targeted Worthy. But A.J. Haulcy hit the receiver, and he dropped the pass. Following the hit, Worthy landed on his shoulder and seemingly aggravated his previous injury. But that didn’t stop him from returning to the field and continuing to help Mahomes in his attack.
“Lands on and aggravates his right shoulder,” injury analyst Dr Jeff Mueller wrote on X. “Noteworthy considering he had labral repair surgery on the right shoulder this off-season (from last year’s dislocation incident) & landed hard on it in camp… He’s back on the field and made a catch so looks like he’s fine!”
Worthy recorded five receptions for 25 yards and scored a touchdown against the Colts. In Week 1 against the Denver Broncos, he made four receptions for 59 yards. The numbers aren’t that impressive because tight end Travis Kelce leads the pass-catchers in targets and receiving yards. Worthy follows behind Rashee Rice, as was expected in the offseason.
“Worthy remains a shaky WR5 ahead of a cake matchup with the Dolphins in Week 3,” Mark Garcia wrote for CBS.
But it is difficult to count out the Year 3 WR out of the equation already.
In the very first week last season, the receiver tore his shoulder’s labrum and dislocated the joint after colliding with fellow offensive player Travis Kelce. Yet, he played through the season and underwent surgery in January 2026. Worthy finished with 532 receiving yards in 2025.
To make things worse, Worthy sprained his shoulder during training camp. Although it was a minor scare and he recovered without missing any significant amount of time, the concerns seemed to remain.
“I do have major concerns about Xavier Worthy’s ability,” Ian Cummings expressed his concerns about Worthy on PFN’s The Hot List ahead of the 2026 season. “And coming out of college, right, he had the 4.21 speed. He broke the 40-yard dash record, but he also was a featherweight prospect who definitely had inconsistencies dealing with physicality both at stems and at the catch point.
“The opportunity is still going to be there for Xavier Worthy, but in my opinion, the archetypal skill set, I still have a lot of questions about the catch point ability. And I think that the deterioration that we’ve seen from a conversion standpoint is troubling to say the least. So he’s got the speed, he’s got the upside, but I need to see more.”
Worthy said during training camp this offseason that he was never “100% healthy” last year until he went under the knife. But during practice, he knew he had to “[build] the shoulder up,” and felt “fine” and “good.”
He’d also claimed that the system last season was difficult for him, as the routes for him had to be changed. But it looks like he’s got the hang of things this year, playing in Eric Bieniemy’s offense. He has been relegated to being a lower-priority receiver, but he’s making it count.
While critics like McCoy are already eager to write off the speedster as an unfulfilled experiment, Worthy’s willingness to play through recurring shoulder trauma highlights a level of resilience that statistics often fail to capture. And that’s something that might prevent Mahomes and Reid from parting with Worthy.