RIVER FALLS, WIS. ? Wide receiver Sylvester Morris will miss the rest of the Chiefs training camp after an MRI showed torn tissue in the back of his hip.

Morris was injured during the team’s first practice Sunday afternoon but the severity of the injury was not known until the MRI Monday.

“It’s the type of injury that’s going to take quite a while to heal,” coach Dick Vermeil said. “They don’t think it’s an injury that will need an operation or anything like that, but he’s going to miss a lot of football.”

Vermeil said Morris was expected to be out at least six weeks.

“Basically he misses training camp and maybe a little more,” he said.

Vermeil wouldn’t say whether the injury would affect Morris’s chances of making the team, although he noted anyone injured in training camp had a tougher time earning a roster spot.

Morris, the Chiefs’ first-round pick in the 2000 NFL draft, showed promise as a rookie, catching 48 passes for 678 yards and three touchdowns. A knee injury has sidelined Morris the past two seasons.

He was expected to compete for the Chiefs’ fifth wide-receiver spot behind Johnnie Morton, Eddie Kennison, Marc Boerigter and Dante Hall.

“I’m sure he’s disappointed,” Vermeil said. “He had bad luck with the knee and had to come back all the way in a year and he’s worked his butt off to get it all the way back so he can compete. He’s worked very, very hard and he deserves better luck. It’s just one of those freak things about this game.”

Kansas City head coach Dick Vermeil speaks to his squad during morning practice. The Chiefs worked out Monday in River Falls, Wis.

Vermeil said Morris’s injury happened in a way similar to the injury suffered by running back Priest Holmes last year, but it wasn’t as serious.

“Priest’s injury happened when someone grabbed him from behind and it threw the torque into the hip,” Vermeil said. “Sylvester Morris’s injury was going back, he got torqued in the back a little bit and it got the hip. It’s a similar type thing. Someone’s stopping your forward progress from behind.”

Vermeil said he spoke to the players after practice Monday about the dangers of grabbing a teammate from behind in practice.

“We just talked to guys about grabbing jerseys and that kind of stuff because you never know, you could hurt somebody,” he said.

Second-year defensive end Eddie Freeman will miss up to four weeks of training camp after dislocating his elbow during Monday morning’s practice.

“It doesn’t appear he broke any bones or anything like that,” Vermeil said. “He will be set back, but he will be able to work out and run and do all those kinds of things to stay in shape. He’ll probably be back by, hopefully, the second preseason game.”

Rookie defensive tackle Montique Sharpe has yet to see his first action of training camp but has been working out on the sidelines.

“It’s a knee thing,” Vermeil said. “We’re not going to push it.”

Fifth-year defensive end Gary Stills was excused from the afternoon practice Monday to attend the funeral of his grandmother. Vermeil said he expected Stills to rejoin the team Thursday.