The Kansas City Chiefs not only welcomed wide receiver Marquise Brown back to practice on Friday, but they are also releasing kicker Matthew Wright in preparation for injured Harrison Butker’s return against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Butker, 29, has not played since the Chiefs’ 16-14 home victory against the Denver Broncos on November 10 due to knee surgery.
‘We’ll see how he does. “He has a chance,” Reid said earlier this week of Butker playing on Sunday.
Wright received the Special Teams Player of the Week before being released on Saturday.
ESPN and NFL Network were the first to report the moves.
Brown returned to practice with the Chiefs on Friday, and there is optimism around the organization that one of their top free-agent signings will eventually be able to contribute during the stretch run and playoffs.
Brown, who was expected to be out for the season, has been on injured reserve since dislocating his sternoclavicular joint on the opening play of their preseason game against Jacksonville. Brown’s return for a fast, frigid practice creates a 21-day window in which the Chiefs must determine whether to activate him, though that decision is expected to come much sooner.
Brown is unlikely to play Sunday in Cleveland, according to Chiefs coach Andy Reid, but he might return the following week for a Saturday matinee against Houston or a trip to Pittsburgh on Christmas Day.
‘It’s great to see him back out there and moving. He got a lot of solid stuff done today,’ Reid stated. ‘You can tell he has been working. The cooling component was not an issue. He did quite a few repetitions.
Brown signed a $7 million contract with Kansas City, hoping that a successful season with Patrick Mahomes and company would lead to a multiyear contract next offseason. Over his first five NFL seasons, he made 313 catches for 3,644 yards and 28 touchdowns.
He participated in the full offseason program with Kansas City, even spending time with Mahomes in Texas, only to dislocate the sternoclavicular joint in his shoulder during a tackle Aug. 10 against Jacksonville.
The injury was intended to keep Brown out for a few weeks, but when scans revealed that the joint was not mending properly, he had surgery to repair it. The hope was that Brown would recover in time to play in the playoffs; the Chiefs have won the AFC West for the seventh consecutive year and have a two-game lead in the race for the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye.
‘As a person, we’re thrilled to have Hollywood back whenever he’s ready, because his personality is so infectious,’ Chiefs wide receivers coach Joe Bleymaier stated. ‘On the football side of things, he’s developed those reps, that camaraderie with Pat and the other receivers—he’s been here. He’s finished it. He has done it before, but not in a game, which is weird.
Brown will return to a wide receiver group that looks very different from what the Chiefs projected in the offseason.
After Brown was injured, the Chiefs added veteran JuJu Smith-Schuster to provide depth, but Rashee Rice suffered a season-ending knee injury against the Chargers in Week 4. The Chiefs quickly negotiated a trade with the Titans to acquire three-time All-Pro Deandre Hopkins, but Mecole Hardman suffered a knee injury only last week.
‘He wouldn’t be coming back unless he was 100 percent and ready to go,’ Bleymaier said of Brown. ‘Maybe it’s the optimism, but you’re hoping he’s right there. He’s finished it. We’ve seen him do it. Now it’s a matter of him going out and doing it.’
