Why Xavier Worthy Has His ‘Hamstrings Ready’ Entering Year 2

Lost in Kansas City’s left-tackle issues and assorted offensive injuries last season, Xavier Worthy emerged as a significant threat late in the year.

Over his final six games, including postseason, Worthy posted 477 yards and six touchdowns on 40 catches. His last catch, a 50-yard touchdown reception during Super Bowl garbage time, was arguably Mahomes’ best pass of the season.

Mahomes hit Xavier Worthy in perfect stride. The quarterback finally got good protection, allowing him to send the pass 67 yards through the air and beat two Eagles defenders. Worthy showed his enticing speed down the left hash.

And although it meant nothing concerning the game’s outcome, it meant everything for Kansas City’s offensive momentum into 2025.

“I just want to carry over to what I did from last year,” Worthy said Thursday on a live interview on the Up & Adams Show. “I feel like they kind of started using me a lot underneath. … I could get started over the top because me and Pat building our rapport together, we built it in training camp. We got it going at the end of the Super Bowl a little bit, so that was a great feeling to be able to connect deep toward the end of the year. I feel like I just want to carry that over.”

Andy Reid wants to carry it over, too. While Worthy might get an opportunity to become the best punt-returner no one knows about, as Dave Toub labeled him in June, he’ll also get more opportunities on deep balls.

“Coach Reid told us during OTAs, Phase 1, that when you come out, get your hamstrings ready,” Worthy said. “So, we kind of knew that we were going to be going a little deep in practice, so we kind of got our bodies and got our minds ready for what we were going to be doing in practice.”

Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown are ready to help it carry over, hungrier than ever after injuries robbed them of their 2024 campaigns.

Rice was leading the NFL in receptions and receiving yards when LCL knee surgery ended his season after only four games, and Isiah Pacheco fractured his fibula in Week 2. With those players out and defenses focusing on Travis Kelce, who had by far his lowest career average per reception (8.5) -- Worthy suddenly became a go-to target for Mahomes.

But unlike those other players who’ve won Super Bowls with the Chiefs, Worthy has yet to taste that feeling. Nonetheless, getting blown out on the biggest stage still stung.

“I'm a winner,” he told Adams. “I hate losing more than I like winning. As a competitor, I feel like that's how it should be. So, you want to come back and you really don't have another chance to redeem yourself, so it's always like, ‘Man, you have to wait till next year.’ So, all that built-up tension, all that built-up anger is just carried over to next year. It's either you're going to stack on it or you're going to carry over from loss.”

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