‘He’s even exceeding my expectations’ — Chiefs WR Tyquan Thornton came up big in Week 3 vs. Giants, and it’s clear this is only the beginning

Kansas City Chiefs WR Tyquan Thornton came up big for the team when they needed it most.

Charles Goldman — NFL Managing Editor
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The Kansas City Chiefs needed someone to step up on offense in Week 3 on “Sunday Night Football” against the New York Giants, and Tyquan Thornton answered the call.

The Chiefs have struggled at the wide receiver position through the first two weeks of the 2025 NFL season. It all started with Xavier Worthy dislocating his shoulder in Week 1 against the Los Angeles Chargers. The loss of Worthy was compounded by the absence of Rashee Rice, who is serving a six-game suspension. Without those two on the field, Patrick Mahomes hasn’t had a consistent go-to outlet for big plays. That all changed in New York on Sunday night.

Through the first two weeks of the 2025 NFL season, Thornton had four catches on nine targets for 100 yards and a touchdown. He almost matched those totals in a single game against the Giants in Week 3, setting new NFL career totals for receptions and yards after never having more than four receptions and 60 yards in a single game

Chiefs’ Top-3 Receivers In Week 3 Win Over Giants:

  • Tyquan Thornton: five receptions, nine targets, 71 yards, and one touchdown
  • JuJu Smith-Schuster: four receptions, four targets, and 55 yards
  • Marquise Brown: four receptions, six targets, and 42 yards

Chiefs WR Tyquan Thornton put in the work and reaped the rewards in Week 3 vs. the Giants

Thornton was already having a solid game, with the team’s lone touchdown reception of the night, but when the team had a chance to seal the deal and put the Giants away, the former second-round draft pick came through. After failing to haul in a pass on second-and-10 with seven minutes left to go in the fourth quarter, Patrick Mahomes went right back to No. 80.

“Yeah, I mean, I think we had the pass on the field, and with the review, I got to talk it over with the guys on the sideline, and we thought they might play a man coverage,” Mahomes said. “We had a good play that we got to, and it was just buying about buying time, you know, with that defensive line. And so I wish I could have got it a little bit further, made it easier catch, but a tremendous catch by him on that right there, and then securing it and getting us to the one (yard line) so we can score a touchdown.”

Mahomes explained he had a dual option on the play based on whether the defense played man coverage or zone coverage. It was man coverage, which meant Thornton would run toward the post and then back out. Even without the perfect throw from Mahomes, everyone did their job and knew their responsibility, which helped the team come away with their first win of the 2025 NFL season.

“Both of them,” Andy Reid said after the game. “Back-to-back, Pat (Mahomes) went to him. It was a nice job making the second one go there. He’s showing some things. He’s a guy that JuJu (Smith-Schuster) spoke highly of. I mentioned Bill Belichick. He’s come here and done nothing but work hard. I’m happy for him to get the opportunity.”

Thornton told reporters that he knew Mahomes would come back to him a second time, and in knowing that, he had to make the most of that opportunity.

“I got another opportunity to go out there and make a play for my team,” Thornton said following the game. “You know, Pat (Mahomes) put the ball up and went out there and stuck my hands out there and grabbed the ball and held on to it.”

He also explained that despite what happened early in his career in New England, his confidence in himself was never dented.

“You just got to know who you are,” Thornton said. “Look yourself in the mirror, you know. Sometimes, life will get hard on you, but you’ve got to keep working.”

This is only the beginning for Chiefs WR Tyquan Thornton

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes was asked whether he got any repetitions with Tyquan Thornton in 2024, when he first joined the team’s practice squad. His answer is pretty telling about what the future holds for Thornton in Kansas City.

“No, but he would come in, like, you know, you get in those practices sometimes, and guys are a little banged up at the end of the season, he’d kind of come in and run some of those deeper routes,” Mahomes said. “And I would throw to him a couple of times last year, just to see what he had, and you could see that he had juice. And now, just getting into OTAs and then into training camp, he was one of those guys that was down there with me working in Texas, and so I knew, I knew he was gonna be a good football player, but he’s even exceeding my expectations. And so he’s stepping up whenever the opportunity has been provided.”

This is only the beginning for Thornton, who is still building chemistry with Mahomes and will make an outsized impact in the coming weeks as the Chiefs go through a gauntlet of a schedule with teams like the Baltimore Ravens, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Detroit Lions on deck. He also has the right mentality to succeed in Kansas City. When asked about what has enabled him to have such success in these first three weeks, he had a one-word response: “Practice.”

“I mean, practice reps become game reality,” Thornton said. “So you go out there and you work at the little things, and you challenge yourself, and you don’t shy away from it, and you go out there on Sundays and give yourselves a chance.

Thornton’s game should also improve as the team gets some of its offensive weapons back on the field. Without Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice on the field, Thornton is drawing some of the top cornerback matchups from opposing teams. Imagine what he’s going to do when teams are forced to put their third-best cornerback or even a safety on Thornton in coverage.

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