KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs will finally get to see what their offense looks like when Rashee Rice joins fellow wide receivers Xavier Worthy and Marquise Brown on the field for Sunday's game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Rice returned to practice Wednesday after his six-game suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy, a punishment that was handed down for causing a high-speed wreck on a Dallas highway in March 2024
that injured several people.
He rejoins an offense that just scored 30 points on the Detroit Lions last week and is starting to find its swagger again.
“He's going to want to be out there every single play. That's the mentality he has,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “It's going to be our job as coaches and teammates to build him back the right way, but it's going to be hard to keep him off the field.”
That's a good problem given how long the Chiefs have waited to get their top three wide receivers on the field together.
It was the vision of Chiefs general manager Brett Veach and coach Andy Reid going back more than a year, when they signed Brown in free agency and drafted Worthy in the first round. But the plan went amiss almost from the start, when Brown hurt his shoulder on the first play of preseason — last preseason — and it kept him out until December.
By that time, Rice had torn ligaments in his knee, sidelining him the rest of the season. The freak injury occurred when Mahomes threw an interception and was trying to make a tackle, and instead collided with his wide receiver's right knee.
After undergoing surgery, Rice managed to get back on the field for the Chiefs' offseason program, and he was able to take part in training camp. But then the NFL handed down its suspension, keeping Rice away from the team for the first six weeks.
Worthy hurt his shoulder in the season opener, causing him to miss a couple of games as well.
Now, all three of the wide receivers are healthy and available, and it seems the biggest question is whether there are enough opportunities to go around. The Chiefs also have gotten good production from JuJu Smith-Schuster, and tight end Travis Kelce has had a resurgent season after spending the past eight months getting into better shape.
“Everybody eats,” Worthy said with a smile, pointing out that Rice's return also means “more eyes going to somebody else.”
“I feel like everybody in this offense can make a play or go win one on one. It's another explosive guy,” Worthy added.
Rice brings a different look to the offense than Brown or Worthy. He has the size and physicality to catch passes near the line of scrimmage and make yards after contact. It's a similar set of skills to Smith-Schuster, though Rice is younger and faster.
“Listen, I think he's excited to be back in and going,” said Chiefs coach Andy Reid, who declined to say whether he'd have any snap count on Rice in his first game back. “You know, I think getting through practices here will be good for him to get back in the swing of things. We'll see how everything goes from there. He's been working hard. He's in good shape.”
While the Chiefs expect to have their full complement of wide receivers, they could be without left tackle Josh Simmons for the second consecutive game. He was a late scratch from last week's win over Detroit with what the team called “personal reasons,” and Reid declined to address his status when asked about it multiple times Wednesday.
“Veach is handling everything there,” Reid said. “We'll leave it at that.”
Simmons' absence means Jaylon Moore is expected to start again at left tackle. He signed a two-year, $30 million deal in free agency with the expectation of starting before the Chiefs drafted Simmons in the first round. Now, he is getting his chance.
“He's a competitive kid,” Reid said. “He did come here to step in, and he's always ready. He practices a third of the practices because (offensive line coach) Andy (Heck) rotates him in there. I thought he did a nice job the other night. He played well. We have a lot of trust in him. Most of all, the guys around him have a lot of trust in him.”
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
