Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes heaped praise on wide receiver Xavier Worthy’s return.
Worthy missed weeks 2 and 3 of the season with a dislocated shoulder. He made a big splash in his return to the lineup with more than 120 scrimmage yards, helping the Chiefs to a 37–20 win over a badly depleted Baltimore Ravens team.
“He’s just so explosive,” Mahomes said. “I mean, you just see it when you get the football in his hands, it just makes the defenses have to adjust, and when they adjust, he gets so much attention on him, other guys can make plays happen. And so just having him out there, not only for his physical ability, but just the morale of the room, I thought it was huge.”
Worthy made several splash plays throughout the game.
At the end of the first quarter, Mahomes heaved a ball to Worthy along the Chiefs’ sideline for a 37-yard gain. Mahomes credited the second-year wideout with beating his defender in man coverage. He joked that he missed Worthy on the next play because Worthy was tired after being out for two weeks.
In the middle of the second quarter, Mahomes tossed the ball to Worthy on an end-around. Worthy made a quick cut behind left tackle Josh Simmons and raced to the Baltimore 22-yard line for a gain of 35. The Chiefs had established the run game well with the addition of an extra offensive lineman.
Mahomes noted that the Ravens’ defense attacked downhill, which opened up the opportunity for Worthy to get outside. He credited Simmons for quickly getting out in front, but also joked that the Ravens were lucky Worthy’s shoulder was hurt because he ran out of bounds instead of trying to take a hit and extend the run even further.
Worthy finished the day as the Chiefs’ leading receiver with five catches for 83 yards, and he added two carries for 38 yards, for a total of 121 yards from scrimmage. But even when he did not have the ball in his hands, Worthy was a factor. Throughout the game, he ran defenders off with deep vertical routes that opened up opportunities for other receivers underneath. On Kansas City’s first touchdown, Worthy pulled a defender into the back of the endzone and created a soft spot for wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster to catch Mahomes’s pass.
On the Chiefs’ first possession in the second half, Worthy caught a pass along the sideline and raced for 29 yards.
“With Xavier being back, it’s just that threat of being able to win over the top,” said Mahomes. “It’s scary for defenses when they’re going to bring pressure knowing that you can get it to that guy short or deep and then he can make plays happen.”
Worthy also lined up as a running back on two critical fourth-down plays in the fourth quarter. First, Worthy sprinted to the sideline, drawing two Ravens defenders upfield and opening up Hollywood Brown for a touchdown. Then, Worthy ran the decoy route on an RPO handoff to running back Kareem Hunt, who converted the first down.
Mahomes said that Worthy has proven he will not be defined by his NFL-record 4.21-second 40-yard dash; he has added layers to his game and is working toward becoming a complete receiver.
“He’s not just this fast receiver that can run down the field,” he said. “He’s gained weight, and he’s kept his speed, and he showed that he can be a guy that can do everything. I think last year was so pivotal of him having to be in a bigger role, obviously with injuries and stuff like that ... this was the role that we expected him to be in, and he showcased it today.”
