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With Week 1 arriving, the Chiefs have made their call on WR Jalen Royals’ injury.

Week 1 of NFL action is here, meaning all 32 teams will soon embark on journeys to see who hoists the Lombardi in February. The Kansas City Chiefs‘ attempted pursuit of revenge starts on Friday, but they’ll be without a projected key piece.

Rookie wide receiver Jalen Royals is out with a knee injury. The fourth-round pick won’t suit up against the Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil.

Chiefs Rule Rookie WR Jalen Royals Out for Week 1

The Chiefs announced such news on social media on Wednesday morning. In their official post on X, they revealed that Royals won’t even travel with the team to Sao Paolo.

That’s the right call, according to former team athletic training staff member Aaron Borgmann in a separate post.

Royals, the No. 133 overall pick back in April’s NFL Draft, is nursing knee tendonitis. That’s held him out of several consecutive practices. Speaking to the media on Tuesday, head coach Andy Reid announced that his rookie wideout wouldn’t practice. That, paired with previous pessimism surrounding his status for Friday night, essentially put the writing on the wall.

This preseason, Royals hauled in a trio of passes for 14 yards. He also factored into the special teams game, bringing back a pair of kickoffs for 75 yards. His injury isn’t expected to linger for several weeks; Kansas City is nipping this issue in the bud.

The former Utah State standout spoke at training camp about the camaraderie he built with this year’s Chiefs rookie class.

“We’re all in the same dorm rooms, we’re all right there,” Royals said. “So, we’re all going through this process together — learning the playbook, learning how coach Reid likes his offense. And then with coach [Connor] Embree, how he runs his receiver room. We’re all just learning and trying to stick together.”

The rest of the Chiefs’ injury report is fairly clean. The only limited participant listed for both Tuesday and Wednesday (estimated) is defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott. Kansas City’s second-round pick is battling an ankle ailment. It’s something defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo admits has held the first-year man to a slow start as a pro.

Assessing Kansas City’s Wideout Depth for Chargers Game & Beyond

Fortunately for the Chiefs, they should be fine without Royals for the time being. That even remains the case without Rashee Rice, who’s serving a six-game suspension. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes has multiple quality weapons to throw to, including all-world tight end Travis Kelce. His wideout corps is far from destitute, either.

At the top, second-year man Xavier Worthy is a favorite to make a leap. The burner was just a few missed connections from posting 800-plus yards in year one. With an offseason to develop and adjust, he’s likely to improve in his sophomore campaign.

Kansas City is confident in the health of Marquise “Hollywood” Brown. The veteran pass catcher is on the other side of a foot/ankle injury just in time for the regular season. JuJu Smith-Schuster may be the closest replacement for Rice or Royals style-wise. Reid certainly seems to believe he’s a capable (albeit partial) replacement.

Royals missing what would’ve been his official debut is a bummer for the Chiefs. It’s probably the right decision to hold him out, however, in hopes of getting him right for a grueling season.

Jordan Foote is a seasoned sports writer who covers the NFL for Heavy.com with an emphasis on the Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers. He has years of experience publishing NFL and MLB content for Sports Illustrated’s On SI vertical, in addition to a background in NBA coverage for multiple outlets. Foote is a Baker University alumnus, earning his degree in Mass Media. He’s based in Kansas City. More about Jordan Foote

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