The Kansas City Chiefs have placed wide receiver Rashee Rice on injured reserve, the team announced Thursday.
The move comes days after Rice was carted off the field in the first quarter of Sunday’s 17-10 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Although the Chiefs still don’t know the exact severity of Rice’s injury, the team was expected to make this move. Early next week, Rice is expected to see a specialist in Dallas to better determine the severity and whether it will be safe for him to return to the field later in the regular season.
By putting Rice on injured reserve, he will miss at least the Chiefs’ next four games, starting Monday night when the team host the New Orleans Saints.
Prior to the Chiefs’ practice Thursday, Rice was seen in the Chiefs’ locker room. He was walking pretty well, considering his circumstances. But he did indeed have swelling around his right knee.
“We’ll get testing done and let you know,” Reid said Thursday of Rice. “It’s just wait and see. For his sake, we’re really hoping that things work out for the best. We’ll just see where it goes and leave it up to the doctors. Rashee has had a phenomenal year. Unfortunately in this league, injuries happen and life goes on.”
Rice sustained his right knee injury in the Chiefs’ win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Immediately after quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ interception in the first quarter, Rice was chasing cornerback Kristian Fulton, who was returning the ball near the Chiefs’ sideline. Rice’s right leg was bent backward when he ran into Mahomes, who was using his right shoulder in an attempt to tackle Fulton. Within minutes, Rice was carted to the locker room, his hands and a towel covering his face. The Chiefs feared Sunday night that Rice tore his ACL, an injury that would end his season.
“When I saw the replay, I felt like s— that I hit Rashee,” Mahomes said Thursday. “I wasn’t worried about myself. I was hoping that his injury wasn’t as bad as it looked.”
If Rice’s injury is not a significant one, the earliest he could return to the Chiefs’ roster is for the team’s home game against the Denver Broncos on Nov. 10, just five days after the NFL’s trade deadline. The Chiefs are expected to evaluate the depth of their receivers in the next three games to better inform themselves if they need to make a trade for a veteran receiver before the deadline.
The two receivers expected to have their snaps increased are JuJu Smith-Schuster and Justin Watson.
“There’s not another Rashee, but there’s other guys, though, that are very, very good, so we’ll be fine,” coach Andy Reid said Thursday. “We’ll take care of business. (General manager Brett) Veach has done a good job of bringing people in here, so we’ve just got to take care of business.”
Kansas City drafted Rice in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft, and he’s become the Chiefs leading receiver. Since last season, Rice leads all Chiefs players in receiving yards (1,226) and receiving touchdowns (9). This season, Rice has been Kansas City’s top option and leads the Chiefs in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
During the 2024 offseason, Rice was involved in a multi-vehicle crash in northeast Dallas, according to police. He is facing one count of aggravated assault, one count of collision involving serious bodily injury and six counts of collision involving injury. In April, Rice turned himself in after the Dallas Police Department issued an arrest warrant for him. In May, Rice was under investigation by the Dallas Police Department for allegedly punching a photographer inside a Dallas nightclub, according to a report by WFAA-TV. No charges were pursued.
The NFL did not place Rice on the commissioner’s exempt list stemming from his arrest after the crash. Jeff Miller, NFL executive vice president of communications, public affairs and policy, said the league continues to monitor developments regarding Rice and his legal problems as it waits to see how the legal investigation plays out. The 24-year-old receiver is set for a jury trial in June 2025 for the multi-vehicle crash, according to multiple reports.
(Photo: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
