Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs extended their perfect start to the 2024 NFL season with a hard-fought win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. However, head coach Andy Reid faces a new challenge as Rashee Rice suffered a serious injury.
In the first quarter in LA, Mahomes accidentally tackled Rice after throwing an interception. Reid can’t tell for how long the wideout will be on the sidelines yet, though the Chiefs head coach has already ruled him out for Week 5.
“As far as Rashee’s injury goes, we’re still testing him on things here,” Reid said, via Sports Illustrated. “So I don’t have a definite for you right now, but we will get it to you. He’s not going to be available, obviously, this week. We’re going to make sure we get all of the tests that need to be done, and then we’ll let you know on that.”
While MRI has yet to reveal the extent of the injury, it appears that Rice may have suffered a torn ACL. This would finish the wideout’s season, leaving Mahomes without his primary weapon in the 2024 NFL season. Therefore, many would expect rookie WR Xavier Worthy to embrace a bigger role in the offense.
Reid, however, made it clear to Mahomes that he doesn’t want Worthy to be the Chiefs’ sole go-to player in the passing game. And Reid also let all his players know how much he believes in them: “We have guys here that have experience of playing in a game, so I mean, it’s not that he’s the only one, [and] doesn’t have to be the only one. We’ve got a good group of guys there that we can utilize. We normally spread the ball around, and that’s what we’ll continue to strive to do.“
Reid believes Mahomes, Chiefs have great options in-house
With Rice out of the picture for the foreseeable, the question is whether the wide receivers currently on the Chiefs are ready to step up. According to Reid, there are reasons to believe in the different wideouts on the roster.
“Skyy’s a good football player,” Reid said of Skyy Moore, who’s in his third year at Arrowhead. “He’s given us some good downs. He had the one drop yesterday on the third down that he knows he has to make, but he’s given us some good downs over these four games. We’re OK there.“
Another player Reid seems to believe in during Rice’s absence is veteran wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster, who returned to Kansas City this offseason after spending one year with the New England Patriots.
“I think he’s played quite a bit up to this point. I think he’s in good shape, and I don’t think that’s a problem. Pat’s got a lot of trust in him. He’s still a good football player, yeah,” Reid said of Smith-Schuster.
After being the Chiefs’ most productive wide receiver in 2023, Rice was enjoying an even bigger role in 2024 by leading the team in targets, catches, receiving yards, and touchdowns. Now, we’ll have to wait and see whether Mahomes and Reid can find another player who can fill in his shoes.