Patrick Mahomes on Hollywood Brown: Tough to lose that talent, understanding of what I want

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes spent the offseason getting comfortable with wide receiver Hollywood Brown, but the development of their relationship is on hold for the indefinite future.

The shoulder injury Brown suffered in the team’s first preseason game could keep him out into the regular season, which means that the Chiefs will have to rework their plans at receiver for the time being. Justin Watson will be taking on a bigger role and Mahomes said others can also step up, but he didn’t downplay what losing Brown means to the offense.

“I guess we’re lucky that it wasn’t as bad as it could have been,” Mahomes said, via Adam Teicher of ESPN.com. “We lose a little bit of that veteran-type receiver in that room. We have other guys that can replace him a little bit, but to have that much talent and have a good understanding of what I want . . . hopefully we’re getting him back sooner rather than later. We’ve just got to keep pushing those young [receivers] to keep getting better and better every day.”

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said he expects Mahomes and other starters to play about a half this weekend and that will give Watson and others a chance to show the quarterback that they can help make up for what the Chiefs are missing.