Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes delivered a promising update on second-year WR Rashee Rice following the team's first padded training camp practice on Friday.
Mahomes has been bullish on Rice since the conclusion of the 2024 NFL season. The 23-year-old receiver put together a prolific rookie season, accounting for 22.4 percent of the team's total receiving yards. His 79 receptions, 938 receiving yards, and seven touchdown receptions were among the best marks a rookie has ever produced in Kansas City.
As the SMU product gears up for his second season in the NFL, Mahomes thinks that Chiefs Kingdom is getting an even better version of No. 4 in the 2024 NFL season.
"He was making that progress at the end of last year," Mahomes said of Rice. "And I think you saw that in the playoffs. And now he just continued to get better and better. He came into came into camp this year even in better shape. We've been able to see how much explosion he has catching the football down the field. And then, obviously, when he catches the football underneath, he's getting upfield fast."
Mahomes and Rice had a strong connection during the 2023 NFL season, but that chemistry appears to have reached new heights this offseason. It has been quite apparent during training camp practices as Mahomes has targeted Rice early and often.
As for the other additions the Chiefs have made on offense, Mahomes seems to believe that it'll help Rice more on the types of plays that he was most successful with a season ago.
"I think it's going to help him a ton," Mahomes continued. "Just like it's gonna help Travis (Kelce) having those speed guys stretching the field and then they can really work in that intermediate-medium range and then they can catch the ball and get YAC (Yards After Catch) after."
Of course, there is one thing that could put a damper on any progress that Rice has made this offseason . . .
What of a potential suspension for Chiefs WR Rashee Rice?
“Yeah, I don’t know that," Reid said of a potential suspension. "I haven’t heard anything up to this point, so I just let all the people in charge do that, that are looking over that part of it.”
Hunt went so far as to suggest that the NFL hasn't even begun to investigate the offseason incident involving Rice. He says that won't begin until the legal process plays out.
“There’s nothing going on with the league at this point," Hunt said at training camp. "Their standard protocol is to let the legal process play out, and then they’ll begin their investigation at that point. I can’t really project when we’ll have those conversations.”
The latest reports from insiders suggest that Rice may not be suspended until the 2025 NFL season. The only court dates to be scheduled to this point for Rice are related to civil litigation. There are no public records of Rice being arraigned or formally charged by the state in any criminal complaints relating to the March 30 traffic accident in Dallas, Texas.
