Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes discussed Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025 how the offense will adjust after losing Rashee Rice to a 6-game NFL suspension, saying multiple players will step up. By Emily Curiel
Last Wednesday, the NFL announced a six-game suspension for wide receiver Rashee Rice — punishment stemming from a high-speed crash in March 2024 — and officially ruled him out until Week 7.
Rice must now navigate his own path forward, and over the next three weeks, that process begins on his own. Per league policy, the 25-year-old wide receiver is barred from the team facility until mid-September.
In these cases, the club’s performance staff will often provide the player with a day-by-day training routine while he is away. That could include workout recommendations, as well as guidance when it comes to nutrition.
The Chiefs will take on the Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil on Friday before opening up GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium next Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. They then travel to East Rutherford, New Jersey, for Sunday Night Football to visit the New York Giants.
The next morning, on Monday, September 22, the wideout will be permitted to re-enter the facility, joining the team for meetings and workouts, but not practice.
Rice’s teammates understand the mental hurdles of being away from the camaraderie of a locker room during that time, so they are doing the little things to keep his spirits up.
Ahead of the Chiefs’ practice week beginning on Sunday, veteran receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster sent Rice a text.
“I was like, ‘Hey man, we’re gonna hold it down until you get back,’” said Smith-Schuster. “(Rice) sent me two 100 emojis — like, ‘Yeah, no doubt, brother. I appreciate you. keep doing it.’”
“He knows,” Smith-Schuster continued. “He sees the bigger picture. At the end of the day, our group is very close, and whether it’s Rashee, whether it’s (Xavier Worthy), whether it’s Hollywood (Brown), we know that we’re gonna be a tight group when it comes down to it.”
While Smith-Schuster projects to be the one-for-one replacement with Rice and rookie Jalen Royals unavailable Friday, the burden of offensive production doesn’t simply lie with him. After missing the preseason entirely due to an ankle injury, Brown is set to make his 2025 on-field debut, and Worthy hopes to pick up from where he left off in Super Bowl LIX.
“This room, it’s a really tight room; we’re bonded,” said Worthy. “Just (Rice) being out, we just want to be there to have his back, hit him up here and there just to check on him, make sure you’re good.
“Obviously, he’s going through a lot, but (we’re) just holding it down for him. We’ve got a lot of guys that can make plays, guys go out there and just replicate.”
For Kansas City, when a player is injured — or, in Rice’s case, unavailable — it’s never something head coach Andy Reid dwells on, be it in game-planning or conversations with the media. And it would be difficult to argue with the results.
Reid’s 2024 Chiefs lost Brown in the preseason, explosive running back Isiah Pacheco in Week 2 and then Rice in Week 3, yet the team still managed 17 wins, including the regular season and playoffs, and it may have been 18 had Reid played his starters in the final game against the Denver Broncos.
Speaking on Friday about the timing of Rice’s suspension via Zoom, Reid gave the impression of a coach ready to look ahead rather than in the rearview.
“I think we were OK with it because of the rotation that we had going; we were prepared for it,” Reid said. “We don’t have to change a lot of things moving forward, and what we put in the game plan.
“As far as (the Chargers’) part goes, last year, our first game against them, they were missing one of their big players on defense (defensive end Joey Bosa and safety Derwin James). They made their adjustments that they need to make in life. Life moved on.
“So they’re familiar with how to handle situations like this, too. In the NFL, you got to be ready for change. Changes happen rapidly, and whether it’s an injury or a suspension or some of that, you’ve gotta be ready to go and still play at a high level. So our guys are excited to play and keep going on this thing.”
Reid added that, throughout the preseason, Rice managed the situation the best he could. Coming off his devastating knee injury, Rice showed no lingering effects, moving well. Reid added Rice that never moped around and stayed positive.
As recently learned in ESPN’s “The Kingdom,” Reid does everything in his power not to judge — and over his two-decade career as a head coach, that has come with a willingness for second chances.
“Rashee’s got a real good heart,” said Reid. “You know, it’s unfortunate that it happened. Thank goodness people weren’t hurt, obviously, but lesson learned. And you move on and try to, try to move ahead. You know, in a positive manner. And so far, he’s done a nice job with that.”
With the season’s kickoff just days away, the Chiefs are moving on, too. And through two 100 emojis from Rice’s phone to Smith-Schuster’s, they know he will be with them in spirit. He knows they have his back.