When is Rashee Rice coming back? Chiefs WR's suspension looms large in Kansas City

Billy Heyen

When is Rashee Rice coming back? Chiefs WR's suspension looms large in Kansas City image

The Kansas City Chiefs continue to wait for the return of Rashee Rice.

The talented wide receiver has missed the start of this season due to suspension, and the Chiefs were also down Xavier Worthy for a chunk of time due to injury, so the WR room has been a bit depleted.

Rice's return is coming sooner rather than later, but not yet. The Chiefs still won't have him for Week 5 against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday Night Football.

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When is Rashee Rice coming back?

Rashee Rice is eligible to return in Week 7.

He was suspended for six games after speeding to cause a chain-reaction crash that injured multiple people. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years of probation.

Rice was a star as a rookie, catching 79 passes for 938 yards and seven touchdowns in 2023.

He only made it to Week 4 in 2024 before a season-ending injury on a fluky collision. He had 24 catches for 288 yards and two touchdowns in less than four full games in 2024.

The Chiefs play the Jags on Monday night in Week 5. In Week 6, they take on the Detroit Lions on Sunday night in a huge matchup.

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Kansas City will be back on the field in Week 7 on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 1 p.m. ET.

Rice did have that season-ending injury to his knee in 2024, so if he hadn't been suspended, there may have been concern over his health to start the new season.

That seems unlikely to be a problem now, though, because the suspension added built-in recovery time.

The Chiefs could choose to slow play Rice's involvement in the offense in his first week or two back, but it seems safe to expect him to have a substantial role by the second half of the season.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle