Arrowhead Pride
In the NFL, you never want to be without your best players — especially for extended periods of time.
But for the second straight year, the Kansas City Chiefs have found themselves thin at wide receiver. Last season, it was due to injuries to Hollywood Brown and Rashee Rice. This season, it’s an injury to Xavier Worthy — along with the six-game suspension Rice is serving.
But Kansas City has found a silver lining in the situation: wide receiver Tyquan Thornton.
Drafted by the New England Patriots in the second round (50th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft, the fourth-year wideout was waived in November, spending the rest of the year on the Chiefs’ practice squad.
Kansas City head coach Andy Reid is happy that Thornton — who now wears No. 80 — is taking advantage of his opportunity to get more reps with quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“I think one of the great things is that Pat has been able to get some game time with a couple of guys he didn’t have a lot of game time with — [like] Hollywood and 80,” Reid noted to reporters on Wednesday. “When the [Worthy and Rice] come in, then he’s got experience with them. I look at the production of the other two guys, Hollywood and Thornton, and it’s been a real positive for the team.”
Thornton has been the hot hand in the top two receivers’ absence. Thornton is second on the team in targets — trailing only Brown — and is tied for the team lead with 171 receiving yards. He also leads Kansas City with two receiving touchdowns.
Despite his fast start, Thornton is working to get better every day.
“I’m learning a lot,” he said on Wednesday. “I learn every day. [I’m] taking the little things from some of the veteran players on how I can be better at the little things. [I’m] going out there each and every day on the practice field and challenging myself.”
Thornton has learned that soliciting help from veterans — in tandem with practice and film study — is a great way to improve his game. And it’s also helpful to keep his ears open for what the quarterback wants.
“There’s one play where we had a corner route,” Thornton recalled, “where [Mahomes] wanted me to get my eyes back a little bit quicker in that void. So now we’re gonna hit on that next time.”
Thornton has provided something that has been missing from the Chiefs’ offense: big-play ability. In 2024, Mahomes averaged a career-low 6.8 yards per attempt. So far in 2025, it’s even lower at 6.4.
But there have been flashes of the deep passing game the team wants to re-establish. The biggest was the 33-yard reception that set up Kansas City’s final touchdown against the New York Giants last Sunday, which finally pushed the game out of reach.
But it wasn’t just the reception. It was the situation surrounding it.
Coming into the game, Kansas City was...
