The Chiefs put Rashee Rice on injured reserve Thursday, sidelining him for at least four weeks and likely longer, after their leading wide receiver hurt his knee when quarterback Patrick Mahomes collided with him trying to make a tackle last weekend.
Mahomes had just thrown an interception to the Chargers‘ Kristian Fulton and both players were trying to chase him down. Rice got there first and stripped Fulton of the ball, just as Mahomes dived toward the pile and hit his teammate just above his right knee.
Mahomes said Thursday that he didn’t know he was the one who caused the injury until he saw the replay on the scoreboard. He said he felt bad about what happened.
“I wasn’t really worried about myself. I was worried about his injury and hopefully that it wasn’t as bad as it looked,” he said ahead of Monday night’s game against the Saints.
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The Chiefs initially were concerned that Rice tore his ACL, which would mean season-ending surgery. But there has been no official diagnosis, and Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Thursday that the medical staff was waiting for the swelling to subside before they do another round of imaging next week to get a fuller picture of the damage.
Despite leaving the 17-10 win over the Chargers early, Rice still leads the team with 28 catches for 288 yards and two TDs.
“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. “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.”
The NFL trade deadline is Nov. 5, so the Chiefs have time to survey the landscape if Rice will miss extended time and they want help from outside the organization. Otherwise, they will lean on JuJu Smith-Schuster and Justin Watson to help first-round draft pick Xavier Worthy and four-time All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce pick up the offensive slack.
“There’s not another Rashee,” Reid acknowledged. “There’s other guys, though, that are very, very good, so we’ll be fine.″
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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