Kansas City Chiefs rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy had another breakout performance on Sunday in the victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.
The elite sprinter opened up about his 54-yard touchdown reception to reporters during his postgame press conference. He explained the planning process with quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“We talked about it on the sideline,” said Worthy. “I told Pat, probably around the first quarter, ‘If you get this play call, I’m (going to) stutter it a little bit at the top of the route, and it worked. It worked out just like that, which is crazy.”
The slight stutter on the route was enough to get separation on the play, although Worthy believes his speed in running straight was good enough.
“I feel like I would have had it if I would have run it straight,” said Worthy. “But the stutter just added a little bit of sauce to it.”
Mahomes chimed in on his view of the big play that put the Chiefs on the scoreboard after struggling in the first half. He also praised the rookie receiver for stepping up after Rashee Rice’s injury.
“The big-time catch down the field, some big-time third-down conversions, he’s a great football player, I think he’s just getting more and more comfortable within the offense,” said Mahomes. “When I go back to the tape, I feel like there’s going to be a couple more that I thought about taking those chances, and I think he ended up winning, and so as I build comfortability with him, I’ll keep taking those chances, and when he makes plays like that like he did today, it’ll give me that ability to kind of shoot him and let him go out there one-on-one and make catches.”
Worthy may have played himself into a more significant role moving forward as his speed continues to dominate opposing defensive backs.
