Kansas City’s Rashee Rice may be sidelined for the remainder of the season due to a knee injury sustained during an unusual play against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
After the Chiefs’ 17-10 victory, Rice was seen boarding the team bus with his right knee in a brace featuring a motion control dial. The injury occurred when his own quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, collided with him while both were attempting to tackle Kristian Fulton during an interception return.
Coach Andy Reid indicated that Rice would undergo an MRI on Monday but expressed limited optimism about the results. “I’m sure it’s not as good of news as we want,” Reid lamented. “I feel terrible for Rashee because he is having a fantastic year. We’ll hope for the best.”
The injury unfolded on the Chiefs’ second drive when Mahomes overthrew Travis Kelce, resulting in a 29-yard interception return by Fulton. Rice was able to catch Fulton from behind and forced a fumble, but during the sequence, Mahomes inadvertently hit Rice’s legs while attempting to tackle Fulton.
Although Chiefs center Creed Humphrey recovered the fumbled ball, video review revealed that Rice was out of bounds when he knocked the ball loose, allowing the Chargers to retain possession.
Both of Rice’s knees were impacted in the collision with Mahomes, and it looked like his right knee might have hyperextended.
“I thought Rashee made a good play. I was going to tackle the guy (Fulton) and obviously rolled up on him,” Mahomes said. “I didn’t know exactly what happened because I was trying to make a tackle, but I know Rashee and how tough he is. So him being down like that, I knew it wasn’t good.”
Rice is the leading receiver for the two-time defending Super Bowl champions, with 24 catches for 288 yards and two touchdowns. Travis Kelce is second, with 15 catches for 158 yards.
After having some struggles in the first three games, Kelce stepped up in Rice’s absence. The tight end had seven catches for 89 yards, including the 917th of his career in the second quarter, making him the Chiefs’ all-time leader in receptions.
Rookie Xavier Worthy could become the Chiefs’ top wide receiver now. Worthy, who was the 28th overall pick in the draft, had three catches for 73 yards, including a 54-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
“We really don’t know what’s going on with him, but, I mean, in our receiving room, it’s next man up. I feel like we have a lot of guys that are able to make plays in key moments,” Worthy said.
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