The Kansas City Chiefs don’t have their top wide receiver Rashee Rice for their Week 9 Monday night game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
What happened to the second-year receiver, and when will Rice be on the field again?
What Is Rashee Rice’s Injury?
Rice was injured on a Patrick Mahomes interception in Week 4 versus the Los Angeles Chargers. The receiver forced Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton to fumble, but Mahomes appeared to take out Rice’s right knee while trying to make a tackle (to add insult to injury, Fulton’s fumble and the Chiefs’ ensuing recovery were eventually overturned).
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
After allowing the swelling in his knee to abate, Rice underwent an arthroscopic knee procedure on Monday, Oct. 7. That operation yielded positive news, indicating that, while Rice needed an LCL repair, he may not have damaged any other ligaments.
The following day, Rice had surgery on his LCL and his hamstring tendon, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz. However, Rice avoided tears or damage to his ACL or meniscus. Schultz called Rice’s operation “the best-case scenario.”
When Will Rice Return?
Andy Reid noted after the surgery that the timeline for Rice is similar to that of a torn ACL. That would put his expected return sometime around the beginning of the 2025 season.
Rashee Rice had surgery on his posterolateral corner (PLC), per Coach Reid, who added the following:
"It's probably the same result you would get timewise for an ACL. It takes a while…He'll get into his rehab and get rolling on that."
— Matt McMullen (@KCChiefs_Matt) October 14, 2024
Even if Rice is healthy for the start of the 2025 season, he may have to miss additional time since the NFL is expected to suspend him for his role in a high-speed hit-and-run in March 2024. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reported that Rice may try to serve his potential suspension while injured.
What Is the Impact of Rice’s Injury on 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. Entering the team’s Week 9 Monday night matchup, Mahomes is producing career lows in:
- Touchdown-to-interception ratio: 8-9
- Pass yards per game: 235.9
- Sack rate: 5.1%
In addition, Mahomes is throwing the shortest average pass in the league, with an aDOT of 5.8 air yards.
Travis Kelce and Xavier Worthy have largely shouldered much of the passing game workload. Since Rice went out for the season, the two have combined for 52% of the Chiefs’ targets and 46% of their receiving yards.
However, the biggest impact has been on Reid’s playcalling. The Chiefs have always leaned into Mahomes as their greatest strength, being one of the most pass-happy offenses in the league.
This season, Kansas City has leaned more into the run game in neutral situations. When the game is within one score, the Chiefs have dropped back to pass just 58.7% of the time, which ranks 13th. From 2018-23, Kansas City never ranked lower than third in one-score dropback rate.
The result has been an offense with a razor-thin margin for error. The Chiefs rank first in success rate but only 25th in explosive-play rate (percentage of plays that gain 20+ yards). In other words, Kansas City is operating on a very strict schedule, and any negative plays are harder to overcome than in years past.
In the short term, the Chiefs will try to paper over these deficiencies as they try to become the first team to win three straight Super Bowls. Veteran wideout DeAndre Hopkins was acquired to help the team in the red zone and provide another outlet for Mahomes while running back Isiah Pacheco will return this season.
However, Rice’s absence has left an irreplaceable hole that won’t be patched until he returns in 2025.