Chiefs WR Rice shows rapport with Mahomes in return from year-long absence

KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers Chiefs gamedays, sports business and eastern Jackson County. Share your story idea with Tod.

—

Rashee Rice came in motion from left to right, caught a pop pass from Patrick Mahomes, cut upfield, broke a tackle and eased into the end zone.

The 2-yard score capped the first drive Sunday in the Kansas City Chiefs’ lopsided 31-0 win against the Las Vegas Raiders at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, but it’s what happened three steps into the end zone that captured the last year of Rice’s life.

Sidelined since late September after knee surgery and suspended for six games after an offseason guilty plea in a March 2024 injury crash in Dallas, Rice punted the ball 40 rows into the stands after scoring.

“Just a lot of passion,” said Rice, who finished with a game-high seven catches for 42 yards and his first career two-touchdown game. “I had to get the first one out of the way. I probably won’t be punting it anymore, but I had to bring the juice, I had to bring the spark to offense.”

It was catharsis for Rice.

“It meant a lot more today,” Rice said of suiting up for the first time since Sept. 29, 2024. “You don’t really notice how much you love something until it’s gone or possibly could be gone. I was able to get a glimpse of that, and I don’t ever want to feel that again. Being able to be out here with my brothers, that’s the most love I’ve had in a long time. I felt great.”

It meant a lot to his teammates, too.

“Man, we just love that guy,” tight end Travis Kelce said. “His presence is felt whenever he's in the building, so it's been good to have him around the past week or two, but even more so now that we can dial some plays up for him and get him going. It feels good to have the full gamut of the offense.”

Defensive end Charles Omenihu, who endured his own six-game suspension to start the 2023 season after joining Kansas City, knows how much it meant for Rice to return to the field.

“I'm glad that all this stuff is behind him,” Omenihu said. “He's a good man and he's a great player, so I’m just happy for him to see him be successful.”

Rice added a second score with 10 seconds left before halftime on a back-shoulder fade at the front left pylon, demonstrating his rapport with Mahomes and his value to a surging Chiefs offense.

“It was great to have him back,” Andy Reid said. “I think you saw the trust that Pat has in him.”

With no timeouts and only a few seconds remaining before halftime, Mahomes said he knew the throw on the second score had to go to the end zone.

“We got a matchup with Rashee one-on-one, and we worked on that throw all offseason,” Mahomes said. “To be able to do that in the season, kind of like we did in the preseason, was good to see.”

Mahomes has a unique chemistry with Rice, which makes his addition particularly dangerous.

“I basically told Pat I was a fade guy in college,” Rice said. “If you look at my highlights, I caught a lot of back-shoulders at SMU. Just having a great quarterback, we had to put it in the air, talk about it, and now repetition’s happening.”

Rice and Mahomes share a connection — perhaps, an unstoppable one — that he’s displayed with Kelce and Tyreek Hill in the past.

“I have a good sense for Rashee, ever since he’s played,” Mahomes said. “I don’t know if it is a body-language thing. ... When it comes to the way he moves and the way he runs routes, I have a good sense of when he wants the football and where I need to throw it to.”

Reid eased Rice into the offense, but it was a thrill for Kansas City and all of Chiefs Kingdom to finally see Rice, Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy on the field together.

“That 12 o’clock kickoff kind of snuck up on us,” Brown said. “But once we were actually hearing the national anthem and we’re looking at each other, like, ‘Man, it’s our first time lining up with each other; let's have fun,’ and we did.”

Heaven help opposing secondaries.

“It’s a glimpse of what’s possible and what’s to come,” Rice said.

—