During the preseason, NFL teams strive to accomplish a number of goals, the most important of which are monitoring the performance of players on the roster, securing playing time for their younger players, and most importantly, preventing any of their players from getting hurt.
Injuries are a constant problem in exhibition games. We already have two injured players from last night’s games. Marquise Brown, the Chiefs’ newly signed wide receiver, left the game after his first offensive play against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The other game was at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, where the Tennessee Titans faced the San Francisco 49ers in the preseason. A broken forearm kept cornerback Ambry Thomas out of action.
That’s true for every game during the season, but losing a key player before the regular season begins can be devastating, especially for team morale. On Saturday, both teams in February’s Super Bowl lost a key starter to catastrophic injuries.
Marquise Brown, the Kansas City Chiefs’ recently signed wide receiver, left the game after just one offensive play. Brown was reportedly examined at a hospital and diagnosed with a sternoclavicular joint dislocation, meaning his collarbone has penetrated his sternum.
The 27-year-old veteran caught a short pass from Patrick Mahomes in the season opener, but landed awkwardly. When Brown was laid out on his side, physical therapist Jeff Mueller was sure he had suffered a strained left AC. The Chiefs later announced that Brown had a shoulder injury and was questionable for his return, but he did not.
After the game, head coach Andy Reid informed reporters that Brown had been admitted to a local hospital with a sternoclavicular joint dislocation similar to the one suffered by former Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill in 2019 and that he may be out for some time as a result.
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Cornerback Ambry Thomas, however, was ruled out of the 49ers’ season opener against the Tennessee Titans on Saturday at Nissan Stadium because of a right forearm injury. The fourth-year defensive back slumped on the field after failing to tackle Titans quarterback Mason Rudolph’s screen throw. Thomas walked to the sideline, trying not to move his right arm and letting it dangle from his shoulder.
Thomas was taken to the blue injury tent for evaluation and was soon discovered on a cart being transported to the locker room for X-rays. The club later announced that the Michigan product was no longer fit to play, meaning Thomas may be out for some time.
After San Francisco’s 17-13 loss, coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters that Thomas had broken his forearm and would be out for “some time.” Thomas, a third-round pick in 2021, played 15 regular-season games in 2023, including six starts. He also started two playoff games for San Francisco. Thomas was listed on the team’s initial preseason roster as the second-team cornerback behind Charvarius Ward.
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