Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Jalen Royals | Bruce Yeung/GettyImages

We’re less than one week away from the Chiefs’ opening game against the Los Angeles Chargers, and they are already down two of their receivers… including one of their rookie WRs.

On Wednesday, the Chiefs were informed that top wide receiver Rashee Rice will be suspended for the first six games of the 2025 regular season for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. Rice recently pleaded guilty to two felony charges stemming from a March 2024 multicar crash that left multiple people injured.

The suspension opens the door for second-year wide receiver Xavier Worthy, who shined in his rookie campaign, to open up as the top wide receiver for the Chiefs.. behind tight end Travis Kelce, of course.

But news didn’t get any better as the week went on. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid announced on Friday that the team will likely be without rookie wideout Jalen Royals for their Week 1 matchup next Friday in Brazil as the Georgia native continues to battle knee tendinitis.

Taken by Kansas City in the fourth round of this past April’s draft with the 133rd overall pick, the Utah State alum saw four targets in the team’s preseason opener against the Arizona Cardinals, catching three of them for 14 yards.

Royals, however, sat out in their preseason finale against the Chicago Bears. And he has been absent from practice since. With Rice and Royals out, the Chiefs’ wide receiver corps currently consists of Xavier Worthy, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Hollywood Brown, Tyquan Thornton, Nikko Remigio, and Jason Brownlee at receiver