'Cherish this' – Kansas City Chiefs veteran WR DeAndre Hopkins' mentorship has paid dividends for rookie playmaker
When the Kansas City Chiefs acquired wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins via trade from the Tennessee Titans back in October, he took an instant mentorship to rookie WR Xavier Worthy. The Chiefs have had to lean more heavily on Worthy this season than they anticipated as fellow WRs Hollywood Brown and Rashee Rice missed the majority […]
When the Kansas City Chiefs acquired wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins via trade from the Tennessee Titans back in October, he took an instant mentorship to rookie WR Xavier Worthy.
The Chiefs have had to lean more heavily on Worthy this season than they anticipated as fellow WRs Hollywood Brown and Rashee Rice missed the majority of the regular season with due to injury. Worthy turned the corner and upped his game during the second half of the season, thanks in part to Hopkins' help both on and off the field.
Kansas City will continue to depend on Worthy as it hosts the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday. As he prepares for that matchup, he revealed while speaking to the media on Friday the advice that Hopkins had for him, and it had nothing to do with X's and O's.
"Cherish this," Worthy said on Hopkins' advice to him. "Like, a lot of people don't get this opportunity to play for a team that's always a contender. So, just cherish this moment and do everything you can to elevate yourself in this moment."
Worthy also credited veterans such as WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, tight end Travis Kelce, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes for giving him tools to succeed, and said his relationship with Hopkins is like a brother.
"All the vets, like Pat, Trav, D-Hop, Juju – having guys like that makes it real easy just to give you insight on the game and just learning from them and keep taking tools from them," Worthy said. "And, I can't preach it enough, just learning from D-Hop. As D-Hop says, I'm kind of like the little brother. So, just getting knowledge from them is just going to keep expanding my game."
Worthy led all Chiefs WRs in receptions (59), receiving yards (638), and receiving touchdowns (six) in 2024. He was also the only WR to catch a pass against the Houston Texans in the divisional playoff round last week. K.C. will hope to get guys like Hopkins, Brown, and Smith-Schuster more involved this week for a more balanced attack.
