When Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Hollywood Brown suffered a sternoclavicular joint dislocation in the first offensive game of the preseason, there was initial hope that he would return after about six weeks.

But on Saturday — after just four practices with the team — the standout offseason free agent signing made his Kansas City debut with a 12-yard catch that converted a fourth-and-1 that led to the first touchdown of the season The team’s 27-yard lead. 19 win over the Houston Texans. He finished the game with five catches (on eight targets) for 45 yards.

All along, Brown had been hoping for a December return.

“I always watched, you know, around Christmas,” he told reporters Monday as the team prepared for its Week 17 game with the Pittsburgh Steelers. “I didn’t know when it would be, but I was determined to try and get to that point again.”

Brown focused on getting back to his teammates.

“They’ve been through a lot,” he said, “so I wanted to get out there, get in football shape (and get my legs in order) (to) get into the flow of things before the playoffs.”

Head coach Andy Reid acknowledged that the team intentionally limited Brown’s time in his first game back.

“For the snaps he had,” Reid said, “I thought he played pretty good football.” He also took a hit. When you have an upper body injury, just throwing the first punch is a big deal.”

Nevertheless, the experienced wideout would have been happy with a larger role.

“I definitely tried to play more,” Brown admitted, “but (I) trust the process.”

That confidence comes from Brown’s admiration for how Reid and offensive coordinator Matt Nagy utilize him.

“You’re doing a good job here,” he stated. “They put me in things I was familiar with; There was a lot of stuff I knew. (But I need to) just continue to integrate with the playbook and get comfortable with more and more things.”

For Brown, the next step is to continue to build his chemistry with quarterback Patrick Mahomes — and get his body back into football shape.

“(I have to) put the repetitions into practice,” he told his listeners. “When you put them into practice, it carries over to the games.”

Mahomes is happy that Brown is getting it – especially since his return coincides well with the emergence of rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy. Even without Rahsee Rice, Mahomes thinks the wide receiver corps is starting to look more like what the Chiefs envisioned for 2024.

“I think you’re starting to understand what this offense was intended to be,” he said Monday. “Obviously we don’t have Rashee out there. But (we have) some other people we’ve added to try to fill that role as best we can. You can see where we thought we would be at the start of the year. And of course we have to improve quickly against some really good teams.

“But I thought (Saturday) was a great start – having Hollywood out there for a limited number of snaps – and that he had an impact on the game (and on) Xavier and everyone. That was a good defense that we went up against.

“It will be another challenge this week. Can we build on that and get some momentum going into the playoffs?”

That’s a question we can’t wait to answer.