Latest Rashee Rice Update Brings Good News to Chiefs

As part of the newest Collective Bargaining Agreement ratified by owners and players in 2020, Rice is allowed to return to the team’s University of Kansas Healthy System Training Complex.

Specific language in CBA

“Players who have been placed on Reserve/Commissioner Suspension pursuant to the Personal Conduct Policy,” reads the newly minted Section 7 of Article 46, “will be permitted to attend the club facility and participate in limited activities during the second half of any suspension period on terms substantially similar to the corresponding provisions of the policies on Performance-Enhancing Substances and Substances of Abuse.”

In layman’s terms, Rice can attend team, offense and wide receiver meetings this week as the Chiefs (1-2) prepare for an AFC showdown with Baltimore on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. Rice can also get treatment on any ailments if needed. He just can’t practice.

It’s a significant development for the Chiefs, who’ve had to slog through the first three weeks without not only Rice but also starting receiver Xavier Worthy – who dislocated his shoulder and reportedly tore his labrum after colliding with teammate Travis Kelce on the season’s third play. Worthy returned to practice two weeks ago but hasn’t returned to game action.

A first for Mahomes

Assuming Worthy is healthy three weeks from now, and Rice finishes the three-week ramp-up period and returns to Kansas City’s active roster, Patrick Mahomes is expected to play with Worthy, Rice and Hollywood Brown for the first time in one-and-a-half seasons. Brown and Rice missed most of the 2024 campaign due to respective injuries.

But unlike last season, the wide-receiver void this year has been filled by Tyquan Thornton. Entering the Monday night game to conclude Week 3, Thornton ranks second in the NFL with a 19.0-yard average. He has 171 yards and two touchdowns on nine catches this year.

Rice agreed to a six-game suspension prior to the season for violating the policy. A Dallas judge on July 17 sentenced Rice to five years of probation and 30 days of jail time for his role in a March 2024 crash that caused multiple injuries. Rice pleaded guilty to two third-degree felonies.