Rashee Rice’s status for the rest of the season has confused the NFL world, including that of one of the biggest insiders in the sport.
On Monday, Adam Schefter reported that the star wide receiver could return to the Kansas City Chiefs at some point in the season, though it would be unknown when he would return. “After consulting today with doctors, there’s ‘a lot of optimism’ that standout WR Rashee Rice didn’t suffer a knee injury as significant as first believed, per source,” Schefter originally reported.
“Rice will be put under anesthesia Tuesday to determine the context of his injury, but the belief now is it could be a ‘much shorter’ recovery timeline than originally thought.” However, just five minutes after Schefter originally stated Rice’s condition, the insider posted an update that was a complete U-Turn of his original post.
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“It’s unlikely that Chiefs WR Rashee Rice will play again this season, but doctors will not know for sure until they perform surgery Tuesday morning, per source,” Schefter’s update read. This confused fans with one user commenting: “That’s quite the 180 there in 5 minutes, my guy.”
As it stands, it remains unclear how long Rice will be out but judging by how many members of the Chiefs organization understand how seriously Rice injured his knee, it stands to reason the receiver could miss the rest of the 2024 NFL season and even the playoffs.
Star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who initially fell onto Rice’s knee which caused the injury, explained to reporters how he felt after knocking out the 24-year-old seemingly for the rest of the season. The injury occurred as Mahomes and the rest of the Chiefs offense attempted to stop the Los Angeles Chargers’ defense after the signal caller threw a pick.
Patrick Mahomes still feels like “S—” for hurting Rashee Rice in Week 4 (
Chiefs)
“When I saw the replay, I felt like —- that I hit Rashee,” Mahomes said to reporters. “I think that’s pretty much all … I mean, I wasn’t really worried about myself. I was worried about, hopefully, his injury, and hopefully that it wasn’t as bad as it looked because I was the one that hit him.”
The 29-year-old added that he didn’t understand just how injured Rice was until after the game. “No I didn’t notice in the moment, I was more worried about trying to get the ball,” Mahomes clarified. “But yeah, obviously, just trying to make a play. It happens when you’re trying to make tackles.”
Many around the Chiefs organization believed Rice tore his ACL in the hit, though the team is waiting for the swelling in his knee to go down before deciding on what to do. Kansas City’s head coach Andy Reid gave more context to Rice’s injury and understood that it is all up to the medical personnel to determine the best course of action.
“We’re really hoping that things work out for the best, but let’s just see where it goes and leave it up to the doctors to see,” Reid said on Thursday to reporters. “Rashee’s had a phenomenal year.
“Unfortunately, in this league injuries happen, and life goes on, so we always expected the next guys to step up and roll, and it’s no different now. There’s not another Rashee. There [are] other guys, though, that are very, very good, so we’ll be fine.”
With Kansas City down on options, star tight end Travis Kelce could see more targets thrown his way as the Chiefs look for other wideouts to replace Rice.
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