The Chiefs will not have one of their top receivers on Sunday.
Head coach Andy Reid told reporters in his Friday press conference that Brown will be out for the Week 15 matchup with the Chargers due to a personal matter.
Brown has recorded 42 receptions for 494 yards with five touchdowns in 13 games this season, his second with Kansas City.
Additionally, offensive linemen Wanya Morris, Trey Smith, and Jawaan Taylor all did not practice on Friday. All three have been ruled out. While Smith was able to practice earlier in the week, he was downgraded to limited on Thursday before sitting out on Friday.
Cornerback Trent McDuffie (knee) is also questionable for the contest.
While quarterback Patrick Mahomes (knee) was on the injury report, he was a full participant all week and is expected to play.
Chargers Clips
Even though the Steelers already defeated the Colts this year, there’s one implication of Philip Rivers’ return that makes Pittsburgh’s current quarterback smile.
“Well, I’m not the oldest guy in the league — love that,” Aaron Rodgers said Thursday, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN.
At 44, Rivers has two years on Rodgers, who turned 42 earlier this month.
“It’s pretty incredible, though,” Rodgers said of Rivers’ return to the Colts this week. “He’s been out for, I believe, four full seasons, plus this part of this season. I was laughing because a couple of my buddies hit me up asking what I would do in that situation, and I said without missing a beat, ‘I’m retired, I’m staying retired.’ So, big credit to Phil.”
Rodgers was drafted a year after Rivers in 2005. The two didn’t have many battles during their time with the Packers and Chargers, given that they played in different conferences. But Rodgers noted he’s long admired Rivers’ game from afar.
“I’ve been a fan of his forever,” Rodgers said. “I’ve known him a little bit over the years. I’ve just loved the way that he competes, plays. Again, not the most gifted player, but cerebral as all get out. Hilarious trash talker. I wish him nothing but the best. I’ve been a fan of his for a while, and I hope he goes out and it’s just like riding a bike and he can jump right back in the saddle — and I expect him to.”
When the Chiefs opened the season against the Chargers in Week One in Brazil, Kansas City was favored by three points, but lost 27-21. That began a season-long trend for the Chiefs of losing games they were favored to win.
So far this season the Chiefs have lost six games they’ve been favored in, the most such losses of any team in the NFL. Even though the Chiefs have been one of the NFL’s most disappointing teams, the point spread has still favored them in 11 of their 13 games so far this season.
Perhaps it should be no surprise, then that the Chiefs are favored against the Chargers again on Sunday. Even though the Chiefs are 6-7 and the Chargers are 9-4, the Chiefs are 5.5-point favorites in Kansas City.
The Chiefs are 5-6 straight-up when favored this season.
The locker rooms at SoFi Stadium may get a whole lot of use in 2028.
The home of the Rams and Chargers already may have a third tenant for 2026, with UCLA looking to move its home football games from the iconic Rose Bowl to the venue as soon as 2026.
Now, Ryan Kartje of the L.A. Times reports USC is likely to temporarily join the party for one year.
With track-and-field events at the 2028 Olympics and Paralympic Games slated to take place at the L.A. Coliseum, that stadium is not going to be ready to host the Trojans for at least the start of the 2028 season. As it stands now, the most likely option for USC is to play its home slate at SoFi Stadium.
If it happens, that could put all four major football programs in Los Angeles under one roof that fall, which could, in turn, cause some logistical challenges.
The Coliseum would be unavailable for at least the early portion of the 2028 football season because the venue will have a $100 million temporary track installed for the Olympics. That requires the Coliseum’s field and dirt under it to be stripped down to the stadium’s concrete base, where columns to hold up the track will be placed about every 10 feet. Restoring the field will take longer than the two weeks between the end of the 2028 Paralympic Games and the start of USC’s schedule.
While Kartje notes USC has not made a final decision on where its 2028 schedule will be played, the only other venue in the area would be the Rose Bowl. And even if the Coliseum could be ready for later in the fall, the USC athletic department may not feel like splitting the season between stadiums — or spending a long portion of the season away from Los Angeles — would be in its best interest.
This would not be the first time the Rams, Trojans, and Bruins would share a venue, as the three teams played at the L.A. Coliseum together from 1946-1979. The Rams and Trojans recently shared the Coliseum again from 2016-2019 while SoFi Stadium was being built.
The 11-2 Patriots and 11-2 Broncos are tied for the best record in the NFL. They’ve each won 10 games in a row.
And they’re both underdogs at home in Week 15.
The Patriots, who can clinch the AFC East by completing the sweep of the Bills, are 1.5-point underdogs against Buffalo. Coach Mike Vrabel undoubtedly will find a way to use that to poke and prod his players — even if the Bills had nothing to do with the setting of the line.
Ditto for the Broncos. They’re 2.5-point underdogs at home against the Packers. That one is a bit more defensible, since the Broncos have played plenty of games against overmatched foes, with very few truly convincing wins. (Still, coach Sean Payton likely will have a thing or two to say to his players about the betting line.)
The spreads are driven in part by wagering patterns. Bettors still don’t believe in the Patriots and Broncos the way they could, or perhaps should.
In contrast, the gamblers continue to cling to the idea that the 6-7 Chiefs, who are 5.5-point favorites against the 9-4 Chargers, will emerge from their current funk.
However it goes, it adds a little spice to the 15th weekend of regular-season football, with all three games having postseason significance to both teams.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert underwent precautionary postgame X-rays on his surgically repaired left hand. Herbert said the images were “clean for the most part.”
He was a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice.
Herbert played against the Eagles a week after surgery to repair the fracture in his non-throwing hand. He ran for 66 yards on 10 carries, including a 12-yard run in overtime when he stiff-armed Eagles safety Reed Blankenship.
Herbert said his hand was sore on Tuesday.
“In the moment, I think that was the best thing that I could have done for the team,” Herbert said. “There’s a world where it is effective, maybe I’m staying on my feet and getting more yards.”
The NFL has announced two Saturday games for the Week 17 schedule.
On Saturday, December 27, the Texans will play the Chargers at 4:30 p.m. ET on NFL Network. Then the Ravens will play the Packers at 8 p.m. ET on Peacock.
The NFL uses flexible scheduling to put big games in broadcast windows that everyone can watch. The league announced when the schedule came out during the offseason that there would be games on Saturday, December 27, but it did not announce at the time which games would be played on that date. Now we know it’s Texans-Chargers and Ravens-Packers, two games featuring four teams in playoff contention.
The league will also play two games on the final Saturday of the regular season, January 3. Those games may not be announced until six days in advance.
The Chiefs were without wide receiver Hollywood Brown and right tackle Jawaan Taylor during their first practice of Week 15.
Brown missed practice for personal reasons. He had one catch for 35 yards in last Sunday’s loss to the Texans and has 42 catches for 494 yards and five touchdowns this season.
Taylor did not play against Houston due to triceps and knee injuries. Wanya Morris, who started at left tackle last weekend, was also listed as out and is expected to miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.
Cornerback Trent McDuffie (knee) was the team’s only limited participant. Safety Brian Cook (ankle), tight end Noah Gray (shoulder), quarterback Patrick Mahomes (knee), wide receiver Nikko Remigio (concussion), wide receiver Rashee Rice (hamstring), right guard Trey Smith (ankle), and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (rib) were listed as full participants.
In July, the Chargers signed quarterback Philip Rivers to a one-day retirement contract. What connection, if any, did that development have to the ability of Rivers to sign with the Colts’ practice squad?
None whatsoever.
Per the Chargers, it wasn’t an official contract. It was ceremonial. That’s because the Chargers had their full allotment of 90 players under contract.
If it had been a real contract, Rivers would have been moved to the reserve/retired list. And if he hadn’t been released from that designation before the trade deadline, Rivers would have been required to pass through waivers before signing with the Colts.
That doesn’t mean anyone would have claimed him. But it would have slowed things down — and it also would have given the Chargers the ability to slam the brakes on the process, forcing him to potentially unretire with the Chargers before being released through waivers.
While there’s no reason to think the Chargers would have played hardball with Rivers, they are competing with the Colts for a potential wild-card berth. Why help the Colts fill a glaring need at the most important position on the roster?
It’s been nearly five years since Colts quarterback Philip Rivers last played in the NFL, if/when he suits up and takes the field. He was still four years away from the record for a quarterback.
As noted when Tim Tebow was closing in on returning to the NFL in 2021 with the Jaguars, after not playing since 2012 with the Jets, Doug Flutie holds the all-time quarterback record with nine years between NFL appearances.
Flutie, drafted in 1985, had a CFL break from the NFL for nine years, leaving in 1989 and returning in 1998. Unlike Rivers, Flutie was still playing, well enough to get another NFL opportunity.
In 2004, Rivers and Flutie were teammates with the then-San Diego Chargers.
It’s still a very long break for Rivers, who’d also be the fourth oldest quarterback to start a game (behind only Tom Brady, Steve DeBerg, and Vinny Testaverde — with the ability to pass Testaverde for third in Week 18).
What does he have left? We may find out in only four days, if/when he starts for the Colts at Seattle.
If nothing else, it’s an unexpected eephus pitch in a season that has had plenty of curveballs.
