The Kansas City Chiefs may have suffered a costly loss in their 17-10 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers with wide receiver Rashee Rice sustaining a potential torn ACL in his right knee that could end his season.
Rice will undergo an MRI on Monday to survey the extent of the damage. While the team’s medical staff fears a torn ACL, the MRI will confirm the diagnosis and help determine if additional damage in the knee exists.
Head coach Andy Reid wasn’t optimistic after the game.
“We’ll have to wait and see but I’m sure it’s not as good of news as we want,” Reid told reporters after the game. “We will see how it goes.”
The injury occurred midway through the first quarter on the first play of the Chiefs’ second possession. Patrick Mahomes overthrew a pass intended for Travis Kelce, resulting in an interception by Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton. During the interception return, Mahomes attempted to make a sliding tackle while Rice punched the ball out of Fulton’s hands. Mahomes missed Fulton, however, and collided with Rice as he planted his right foot causing a hyperextension of his knee.
Mahomes blamed his interception for leading to the injury.
“I was trying to tackle the guy, and obviously rolled up on him,” Mahomes said. “But if I just don’t turn the ball over, do that, that never happens. So you just got to try to get better at that.”
Rice was helped to the bench and unable to bear any weight on his right leg. A few minutes later he was carted off the sidelines, lying on the cart bed with his face covered by a towel and buried in his hands. That’s when it sunk into Mahomes the severity of Rice’s injury.
“I didn’t know exactly what happened because obviously, I was trying to make a tackle, but I know Rashee and how tough he is,” Mahomes said. “So him being down like that, I knew it wasn’t good. All we do is pray that the X-rays and MRIs and stuff like that are better than what it looked, but I mean next man up until he’s back.”
The interception led to a field goal giving the Chargers a 10-0 lead with 3:53 left in the first quarter. The situation couldn’t have been more dire for Kansas City, but Reid said his team hung together following the injury.
“I thought Pat stepped up and just said, ‘Hey, we’re going to roll,'” Reid said. “(Offensive Coordinator Matt Nagy) was just constantly, like I was saying, going through there and just saying, ‘Hey, just hang with it and let’s go just do a good job.’ Just being positive with that in the best way they could.”
After Rice left the game, Mahomes felt his teammates needed to settle down — himself included.
“I think at the beginning of the game in general, we were trying to do too much and that’s why we had the fumble and then the interception,” Mahomes said. “I thought guys stepped up and filled as good as they can, the role that he has in our offense, which is a big one.”
Now the Chiefs must address replacing their leading receiver potentially for the remainder of the season. Rice, who was the team’s offensive captain Sunday, entered Week 4 ranked third in the league with 24 receptions and fourth with 288 yards receiving. That’s a daunting prospect for Mahomes, who has already dealt with losing receiver Hollywood Brown and running back Isiah Pacheco.
“All we can do now is kind of go back to the basics and try to get guys in opportunities to succeed,” Mahomes said. “I thought Travis did a great job of stepping up and making plays like he always does, but at the end of the day we got the win and that’s what’s important.”
Rice traveled back to Kansas City with the club Sunday night and will undergo an MRI an additional tests Monday. Reid didn’t seem optimistic about good news, however.
“I feel terrible for Rashee,” Reid said. “He’s been having a fantastic year and we’re hoping for the best on the report.
Options for Chiefs
If Rice is indeed out for the remainder of the season, or even a significant portion of it, the search for replacements in the lineup will likely begin in-house.
The Chiefs have five other receivers on the active roster: starters Xavier Worthy and Justin Watson plus backups JuJu Smith-Schuster, Skyy Moore and Mecole Hardman.
The Chiefs also have three receivers on the practice squad: Justyn Ross, Nikko Remigio and Montrell Washington.
Brown, who underwent surgery early this month to repair his sternoclavicular dislocation, isn’t expected back until the postseason — if he’s able to return at all this campaign.
If the Chiefs choose to pursue free-agent opportunities, trade possibilities or waiver claims, circumstances may limit the options. Kansas City entered Sunday with $4.9 million in available cap space. That would likely limit the club to mostly veteran minimum contracts rather than absorbing a player with a larger 2024 base salary.
The trade deadline is Nov. 5. After that date teams can no longer make trades.
