The Kansas City Chiefs will open up the 2024 NFL regular season at Arrowhead against the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night in a rematch of last year’s AFC title game.

There’s a lot of excitement surrounding Thursday night’s home opener as the Chiefs are looking to three-peat. However, the Chiefs will not have one of their key playmakers to start the season.

Kansas City announced Wednesday that veteran wide receiver Hollywood Brown was ruled out for Thursday’s opener.

The veteran wide receiver joined the Chiefs this offseason on a one-year, $7 million. Brown has been sidelined for almost a month after suffering a devastating shoulder injury in Kansas City’s first preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The diagnosis for Brown’s return was set at 4-6 weeks, taking the veteran receiver into the early start of the 2024 season.

Last week, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach provided a positive update on Brown, stating that he’s trending in the right direction, which is why Kansas City didn’t put the veteran wideout on injured reserve. Veach also said that Brown is at the point where he can laugh without any pain.

While the Chiefs would love to have Brown on the field to face his former team, it’s only a matter of time before he’s back on the field. Kansas City will lean on second-year receiver Rashee Rice, rookie Xavier Worthy, and veteran Juju Smith-Schuster to create a few big plays in the passing game against the Ravens.