Worthy still out, and Mahomes won't get preseason reps to work around it

Xavier Worthy remains Questionable, which at this point in camp is its own kind of answer. This is the fifth time I've noted his status in recent weeks, and nothing has changed. The Chiefs' leading receiver from a season ago — 42 catches, 532 yards — is watching from the side while Patrick Mahomes tries to rebuild timing and chemistry after a torn ACL and LCL.

The timing compounds badly. Andy Reid made clear Thursday that Mahomes almost certainly won't play in the preseason, a sensible call for a quarterback eight months removed from major knee surgery. But it means the reps Mahomes does get in camp are the only live reps he'll have before Week 1, and he's getting them without his most productive wideout from 2025. Tyquan Thornton and Travis Kelce are active and available, which helps, but Worthy's absence leaves a real hole in what the offense is able to rehearse.

This group needed a clean camp more than most. The 2025 season exposed an offense that couldn't execute when it mattered — one win in nine close games, a collapse that accelerated once Mahomes went down in December. Rebuilding that execution requires repetition, and right now the Chiefs are short on both the quarterback and the receiver they need most to do it.