Patrick Mahomes Responds to Loss of Rashee Rice

That’s a good thing, because the Chiefs will need that fire without wide receiver Rashee Rice. Last week, the NFL handed Rice a six-game suspension for violations of the league’s personal conduct policy. Speaking for the first time since the suspension, Mahomes said Sunday the Chiefs were prepared for the possibility they’d open the year Friday in São Paulo, Brazil (7 p.m. CT, YouTube, KSHB-TV 41, 96.5 The Fan) without their No. 1 wide receiver.

How Chiefs will replace Rice

“Obviously, losing a receiver of that magnitude,” Mahomes said, “that's that good, it takes away from the offense, in a sense. But at the same time, we brought in depth with (Brett) Veach and them, brought in a lot of receiver depth so that guys can step up and take over that role in different spots.

“It won't be just one guy. It’ll be multiple guys that will kind of do some of the stuff that Rashee has done, and then other guys will step up at other spots and make plays as well.”

Those other guys – Tyquan Thornton, Jason Brownlee and tight end Robert Tonyan -- weren’t active last year when the Chiefs slogged through the season without Rice. And that’s why this time without their leading receiver is expected to be different.

Ironically, the last time the Chiefs played the Chargers away from Kansas City, they also lost Rice. The receiver’s season ended on Kristian Fulton’s first-quarter interception return, when Mahomes accidentally collided with Rice’s knee attempting to make a tackle.

Explosiveness is back in offense

The injury, combined with Hollywood Brown’s shoulder injury and Isiah Pacheco’s broken fibula, sucked the life out of the Chiefs’ offense. They lost their hallmark explosiveness, forcing Travis Kelce to become the team’s leading target and allowing opponents to take away the deep ball.

This year, however, Thornton has already proven in preseason that he can be a significant deep threat , along with Xavier Worthy. Brownlee had a great training camp and caught the Chiefs’ first touchdown of the preseason on Aug. 9, showing an impressive red-zone catch radius.

And Tonyan appears poised to return to the form on display during the first half of his career in Green Bay.

Plus, unlike last year when the Chiefs lost Rice unexpectedly in Week 4 at SoFi Stadium, this year they had an entire offseason to prepare for this stretch without him. Mahomes has mentioned multiple times how the return of the deep ball opens up the entire Chiefs playbook, creating intermediate and underneath opportunities for Travis Kelce and others.

What’s more, Worthy believes anyone in the Kansas City receivers room could’ve hauled in the 58-yard pass Thornton caught against the Bears.

“It shows the camaraderie and what we got going on in the room,” Worthy said last week. “Everybody could go make a play at any moment. So, they have to respect everybody on the field ... That's what we worked on. And that kind of didn't surprise me, what happened in the game. Tyquan’s been catching those all camp, and he's really been showing up. So, this just shows the work being put in.”