The Kansas City Chiefs have been ravaged by injuries, particularly on offense. It got started early with the team losing Hollywood Brown in the first preseason game. Then, a month into the season, their top receiver Rashee Rice suffered a freak knee injury, ending his season. Roughly two months later, do we have any updates on Rice’s status?
What Is Rashee Rice’s Injury?
The Chiefs’ offense has not operated at their projected full strength all season. They lost Brown in the preseason. They lost RB Isiah Pacheco for nine games with a major leg injury. Rice went down in Week 4 vs. the Los Angeles Chargers. JuJu Smith-Schuster missed three games with a hamstring injury after being elevated to a primary role.
Some of those players are getting back. Smith-Schuster and Pacheco have returned, and there are rumblings that Brown could make it earlier than expected and play before the end of the regular season.
However, Rice is not so lucky, as his injury is by far the worst. Not only was his injury the only sure-fire season-ender, but it came after Rice attempted to make a tackle off a Patrick Mahomes interception, only to get hurt once Mahomes fell into his top wide receiver’s knee.
Rice wound up tearing his LCL, which is far less common than a torn ACL or MCL. If there’s any silver lining, it’s that the timing of Rice’s injury should put him in position to be ready for the start of the 2025 season.
When Will Rice Return From Injury?
Barring some sort of unexpected setback, Rice should have a solid opportunity to return during training camp and be ready to play in Week 1 of the 2025 season.
Typically, we see a dip in production in a player’s first year back from a torn ACL. They don’t return to their former selves until the year after they return.
Although his recovery timeline is similar to that of a torn ACL, there isn’t any indication that it should cause as significant of a dip in his production. Thus, there is a very good chance Rice can produce at peak levels right away.
How Has Rice’s Absence Impacted the Chiefs?
Rice’s absence has created a mammoth gap in the Chiefs’ receiving corps. Without his top wide receiver, Mahomes has set career lows across the board, including in pass yards per game, touchdown rate, sack rate, and touchdown-to-interception ratio, among other stats.
Travis Kelce has been more dependable after an early-season slump, ranking second among tight ends in receptions behind Brock Bowers. But even with trade deadline arrival DeAndre Hopkins, the depletion at WR has caused the team to rely on Kelce more than intended.
The plan was to not overload Kelce during the regular season to keep him fresh for the playoffs. However, Kelce has instead played his highest share of the team’s snaps since 2019.
All this has created a less explosive Chiefs offense that is highly reliant on maintaining a high success rate that allows them to barely stay on schedule. It’s worked just well enough so far, with a litany of close escapes putting Kansas City in position to earn the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. But championships are now the expectation, and it’s unclear whether the Chiefs have the offensive firepower to become the first Super Bowl three-peat champs.