While the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 17-10 on Sunday, they suffered a devastating loss in the process when star wide receiver Rashee Rice suffered a knee injury. Let’s examine the latest updates on Rice’s status.
The Latest on Rashee Rice’s Injury
Rice was injured on a play with multiple turnovers. Patrick Mahomes threw a first-quarter interception, but Rice forced Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton to fumble. While Kansas City recovered (on a call that was eventually reversed), Mahomes appeared to take out Rice’s right knee while trying to tackle Fulton.
Rashee Rice gets injured trying to make a tackle after this Patrick Mahomes INT pic.twitter.com/wgn05fsvt8
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) September 29, 2024
He was eventually carted back to the locker room with a towel over his head, and when head coach Andy Reid was asked by CBS’ Tracy Wolfson if he had an update on Rice at halftime, he said, “No, but it’s not good.”
After the game, Reid took a similar tone, noting that Rice will undergo an MRI but adding that the Chiefs aren’t expecting good news.
“I feel terrible for Rashee,” Reid said, per ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry. “We will hope for the best.”
Initially, reports indicated that Rice is feared to have torn his ACL. But after his MRI results came back, ESPN’s Adam Schefter noted that “there remains uncertainty over the extent of his injury” and the Chiefs need to run additional tests to determine Rice’s recovery timeline, and they won’t have an update until next week.
This certainly seems like good news, as Dr. David J. Chao noted.
When it comes to ACL injuries, no definitive news of tear is considered good news 🙏 https://t.co/b42JfwrUgR
— David J. Chao – ProFootballDoc (@ProFootballDoc) October 1, 2024
While this is better than Rice immediately being ruled out for the season with a torn ACL, it still seems that Rice will be sidelined for some time.
On Thursday afternoon, the Chiefs announced that they placed Rice on injured reserve, meaning he will be out for at least the next four games.
We have placed WR Rashee Rice on Reserve/Injured. pic.twitter.com/viUE50DLbV
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) October 3, 2024
Mahomes already lost running back Isiah Pacheco and wideout Hollywood Brown to injuries, but Rice’s absence will be even more difficult for the Chiefs’ offense to overcome.
Rice is at the center of Kansas City’s offense. His 33.3% target share ranks second in the NFL only to New York Giants rookie wideout Malik Nabers.
The Chiefs’ underneath passing strategy has benefited Rice, who entered Week 4 leading the league with 23 receptions and 3.39 yards per route run. While he’d only averaged 5.21 air yards per route, Rice had made up for his lack of depth by averaging 7.8 yards after the catch, fourth-best among all wideouts.
Kansas City still has future Hall of Fame TE Travis Kelce and first-round rookie WR Xavier Worthy, but general manager Brett Veach might have to consider trading for another pass catcher.
Rashee Rice’s Fantasy Outlook
You hate to see it. Every injury hurts to watch, but a star receiver getting banged up while having to play defense following an interception is a different sort of pain.
Prior to his injury, Rice was the focal point in the Chiefs’ passing attack.
Rice’s usage, Weeks 1-3:
- 37.5% reception share
- 43.7% receiving yardage share
It had essentially been accepted that Rice had supplanted Kelce as the go-to option in Kansas City’s offense, making this a big blow that the Chiefs aren’t exactly built to withstand due to injuries to Brown and Pacheco.