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Will Xavier Worthy play in Week 2 for fantasy football? Is Xavier Worthy injured or hurt heading into Week 2 of 2025? Read the latest Xavier Worthy injury report.
With the Kansas City Chiefs coming into the season expecting to be without their Wide Receiver 1, Rashee Rice, due to a six-game suspension, expectations were high for Xavier Worthy to make up the difference in his absence. After a stellar end to the season in which Worthy averaged 18.25 ppg in half-ppr format (including playoffs), fantasy managers drafted him in hopes of maintaining that momentum.
In case you haven’t seen the news, Worthy collided with Travis Kelce on a shallow crossing route in the Chiefs’ first offensive series Friday night in Brazil versus the Los Angeles Chargers. The collision led to Worthy missing the rest of the game and immediately going to the locker room for further evaluation of structural damage to his dislocated shoulder.
Chiefs WR Xavier Worthy headed to the locker room with an apparent shoulder injury after colliding with Travis Kelce
He's questionable to return pic.twitter.com/J0jbIWARJf
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 6, 2025
So what's Worthy’s status for Week 2, and will he play? Read the latest Worthy injury news and fantasy outlook below.
Xavier Worthy Fantasy Football Injury Update
After teasing for Patrick Mahomes to start a season with a solid core group of receivers in hopes of returning to the explosive offensive threat the Chiefs provided fantasy managers with back in the 2022 season, disaster struck quickly to reverse expectations.
Worthy would seemingly take stage as the focal point of the offense with a jet-sweep handoff and a target within the first 5% of offensive plays. He looked as quick as ever after training through a spectacular spring camp, only to be tragically removed from the field by a vicious hit. With Worthy writhing in pain, we would see him walk to the locker room under his own power with a towel over his head.
Historically, this injury can have two different results:
Result one- a player might need surgery due to a torn labrum. Sometimes, there is also structural damage to the bone due to the humeral head becoming dislodged from the socket and popping back into place. This option would mandate season-ending surgery, and we wouldn’t see Worthy again until 2026.
Result two- if there is no tear, depending on the player’s pain tolerance, they can wear a brace to support the shoulder and play through it. There is a very high risk for reinjury with this option, and it’s very likely that his game will be severely restricted until proper healing takes place.
Thankfully, since no labral tear was reported, Worthy has opted to try playing with a brace and is currently evaluating how his shoulder progresses up until the game this week. With this type of situation, it will be crucial to monitor his practice activity and stay tuned for updates on how he’s adapting to playing with a shoulder brace.
Is Xavier Worthy Playing in Week 2?
It remains to be seen whether or not he will commit to playing in Week 2, but it is most likely that he misses some time to allow the ligaments to heal a bit before returning to the field. In the worst case, he can still experience too much pain to the point where he has to shut it down for the season.
The best advice for Week 2 would be to pick up Marquise Brown if he’s still available on your waiver wire, as he saw 16 targets in Worthy’s absence while catching 10 of them for 99 yards. If he isn’t available, JuJu Smith-Schuster or Tyquan Thornton could be intriguing stashes to see if the playbook includes them more to fill Worthy and Rice’s shoes.
If Worthy does indeed play, he could be used as more of a decoy in the offense. This is the most likely scenario whenever he does return, as it’s likely the shoulder will cause a lot of pain (or even reinjury) every time he tries to catch a ball or even falls on it while diving for a catch, not to mention any hit that may come after a catch. Unless the damage done is significantly less than it seems, you should likely look to pivot from Worthy until miracle reports come from the Chiefs trainers and himself to validate his range of motion and shoulder stability.
Chiefs WRs Xavier Worthy (shoulder) and Jalen Royals (knee) will not practice today, HC Andy Reid told reporters.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 10, 2025
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