Chiefs to be without WR Hollywood Brown in season opener vs. Ravens

Kansas City will have newly acquired JuJu Smith-Schuster and Samaje Perine but not wide receiver Marquise "Hollywood" Brown when they play Baltimore on Thursday night in an AFC title game rematch that opens the NFL season.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Friday that Smith-Schuster and Perine should be able to pick up enough of the playbook in time to help them out against Baltimore. Smith-Schuster was released by New England last month and signed with the Chiefs on Monday, while Perine was released by Denver on Tuesday and was in Kansas City two days later.

"I've just got to see with Perine … where he's at in picking everything up," Reid said. "I'm not going to put him in a bad position obviously, but I think he's going to be fine. He's been here cranking things up, so we'll see how it goes."

Brown, one of the Chiefs' marquee free-agent acquisitions, dislocated the sternoclavicular joint in his shoulder after making a catch in their preseason opener against Jacksonville. He got the shoulder set without surgery, though, helping to speed up the four-to-six week timeline for recovery and giving him a chance to play in Week 1.

But despite appearing on the practice field this week, Brown did not take part in any real work, and Reid decided to give him more time to recover. The fact that Chiefs general manager Brett Veach opted against putting him on short-term injured reserve this week when the roster was trimmed means they still expect him back in the next couple of weeks.

"He's at the point where he can laugh without pain," Veach said this week, putting a positive spin on Brown's recovery.

Smith-Schuster helps to provide some depth at the position.

The veteran wideout played for the Chiefs two years ago, catching 78 passes for