Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice is out for at least the next four weeks and potentially longer after suffering a serious knee injury during Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
The injury occurred during an interception thrown by Patrick Mahomes. As Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton ran the ball back, Rice caught him from behind and stripped the ball away. At the same time, Mahomes attempted a low tackle in front of Fulton, his right shoulder instead hitting Rice’s right knee.
The replay showed Rice’s knee bent the wrong way.
Rice had to be carted off the field and there were fears he might have torn his ACL, a season-ending injury. Four days later, the nature of the injury remains unclear, but the Chiefs placed him on injured reserve Thursday, which will keep him off the field for at least the next four weeks.
Also Thursday, Mahomes discussed the fateful piece and, as expected, he didn’t feel good about his role in his WR1’s injury:
“I didn’t notice it at the time, I was more worried about trying to win the ball back, but yeah, obviously you’re just trying to play. It happens every time you try to make tackles.
“When I saw the replay, I felt like I hit Rashee. That’s about it. I wasn’t really worried about myself. I was worried about his injury and hopefully that it wasn’t as bad as that, I looked, because I was the one who hit him.”
Through four games, Rice leads the Chiefs in receptions with 24 and receiving yards with 288. He was on track for a strong follow-up to a promising rookie year, despite some offseason issues such as his dangerous injury accident. street racing, but his status for the remainder of the season is now unclear.
With Rice’s absence, more of the receiving responsibility will fall on tight end Travis Kelce and rookie Xavier Worthy as the Chiefs aim for a three-peat.
