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Xavier Worthy knocked out of Chiefs’ opener after colliding with Travis Kelce

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Xavier Worthy was knocked out of the Kansas City Chiefs’ season opener on Friday night with a shoulder injury that occurred on a totally fluke play.

The former Texas star wide receiver was running a route on the Chiefs’ opening drive of the game against the Los Angeles Chargers in Sao Paulo, Brazil. That’s when disaster struck, as Worthy collided with star tight end Travis Kelce, who happens to be Worthy’s teammate. Worthy and Kelce were running crossing routes and accidentally smacked into each other.

Worthy got the worst of the collision. The former All-Big 12 wideout at Texas, where Worthy played from 2021-23, got knocked over after the collision and was slow to get up. Worthy then went to the locker room with a towel draped over his head. After the play, when Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw an incompletion, Worthy was at first deemed questionable to return to the game.

Then during the 2nd quarter, the Chiefs downgraded Worthy from questionable to out for the rest of the game in Brazil.

Here is the fluke play that took away one of the Chiefs’ top weapons for the rest of Friday night’s season opener:

I *think* Xavier Worthy dislocated his shoulder on this friendly fire from Travis Kelce.

Looked like he couldn’t move his right arm and then the training staff may have been trying to relocate on the field.

pic.twitter.com/iMAwrcV3FC

— Jeff Mueller, PT, DPT (@jmthrivept) September 6, 2025

It was a forgettable way for Worthy’s 2nd NFL season to begin. Worthy finished his career at Texas with 197 catches for 2,755 yards and 26 touchdowns.

Worthy had 59 catches for 638 yards and 6 touchdowns during his rookie season last year with the Chiefs. Now, the immediate future of his much-anticipated second season in the NFL is unknown.

Cory Nightingale

Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.