In Week 1 of the NFL season, the Kansas City Chiefs’ rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy put the league on notice with his performance against the Baltimore Ravens.
Months after headlining April’s NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis with a record 4.21-second 40-yard dash, Worthy turned his three opening night touches into 68 scrimmage yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Days later, however, the former Texas Longhorn is no longer riding high on his breakout game.
“It’s been cool just to have that — [and] do what I did on Thursday,” Worthy told reporters before Wednesday’s practice, “but I have this 24-hour rule. You do it [and] you live it out. Then you forget about it; it’s on to the next. So I’m on to the next.”
While Worthy agrees that his Week 1 performance serves as a confidence booster, he knows he can’t expect a similar performance each week.
“Just me as a person,” he observed, “I feel like once I have a good game, it happened [and] it’s onto the next. The next game could be bad, so you never know. Just be confident — and just be humble — at the end of the day.”
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Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
What Worthy can do is apply his preparation for the Ravens matchup to the other games on Kansas City’s schedule.
“A lot of things that I kind of focused on,” he recalled, “was understanding the defense. I feel like I did that. So I just want to carry that over to this week — and every other week: just understanding the defense [and] knowing what they’re going to do before every snap.”
A month ago — after the speedster missed most of the offseason (and part of training camp) managing a hamstring injury and an illness — few would have expected much from Worthy’s first game. But he believes there was an upside to the time he missed.
“The injury kind of helped me — in a way — just to understand the playbook a little more,” explained Worthy. “So coming into the game, I feel like I already had the playbook a long time ago. I felt like I was already out there understanding – [and] knowing the defense.”
Head coach Andy Reid credited his rookie wideout for his contributions in the win against Baltimore.
“He did a nice job for us,” he observed on Monday. “Again — even with his size — he was willing to get in the mix of the run game part of it. Having the success he had, I think, is a positive for a young guy to get going.
“Are you guaranteed two touchdowns every game? That’s not necessarily in the contract, but it was great for him to get started that way. He knows that he can play at this level now.”
Best of all, Reid feels that Worthy is acclimatized to the league.
“I didn’t sense he had any questions,” he added, “but if he did, those were answered.”
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Denny Medley-Imagn Images
Meanwhile, Kansas City’s quarterback expects to see Worthy become even more involved with the game plan.
“I think it’s just going to be a spark,” said Patrick Mahomes of Worthy’s coming-out party. “It shows what he can do. Obviously, it showed his speed. It showed how he’s able to run routes and find open spaces. It just kind of gives him that confidence.
“I think he already had it anyways. But to show that he can do it on Sundays — or whatever day of the week that we’re playing — it’s just kind of a start for him. We want him to keep building. We want to get him more and more involved in the offense. But [it was] a great start.”
It was reported that Baltimore defenders could be heard on the field, charging each other to respect Worthy’s speed. If that happened, the first-year pro didn’t notice.
“[I’m] so locked in,” remarked Worthy, “I can’t even hear anything — if it’s not Pat talking over here.”
