Will Chiefs WR Rashee Rice return from injury to play vs. Eagles in Super Bowl LIX? The latest update is not what it might seem
Kansas City Chiefs second-year WR Rashee Rice suffered a knee injury in a collision with QB Patrick Mahomes in Week 4's win over the Los Angeles Chargers. He was placed on the injured reserve list in October after imaging revealed he needed his LCL repaired. Despite the serious knee injury, Rice's status has been rather vague throughout the […]
Kansas City Chiefs second-year WR Rashee Rice suffered a knee injury in a collision with QB Patrick Mahomes in Week 4's win over the Los Angeles Chargers. He was placed on the injured reserve list in October after imaging revealed he needed his LCL repaired.
Despite the serious knee injury, Rice's status has been rather vague throughout the season. Fans have remained hopeful that he could eventually return should the Chiefs make a deep run into the postseason. Rice gave those fans hope when he posted a picture of his Super Bowl LIX jersey on his Instagram story.
This post might be giving some folks the wrong impression, though. Rice isn't slated to return during the postseason due to the severity and recovery timeline for his knee injury. Chiefs HC Andy Reid spoke about this a few weeks ago when asked about key players who could potentially return for the postseason.
"There’s a chance with Mecole (Hardman) and potentially (Jaylen) Watson – I mean, potentially," Reid said back in December. "That would be stretching it though, I think, but the other two (Skyy Moore and Rashee Rice), no.”
While he likely won't get a chance to play in this Super Bowl, Rice can travel to New Orleans, Louisiana, with the team to support his teammates. He'll also be able to attend the opening ceremony on Monday night and the media availability throughout the rest of the week. Charles Omenihu did this just last season after suffering a knee injury in the AFC title game against the Baltimore Ravens.
What are the NFL's injured reserve rules?
Players placed on injured reserve must miss a minimum of four games. If players are placed on IR before roster cuts, teams are allowed to designate two of the players to return at a later date. NFL teams can return eight players from injured reserve during the regular season and two additional players upon a postseason berth, for a total of 10 players during a given season. An individual player can be designated to return twice should he be placed on injured reserve twice. Once players are designated to return to practice, they have a 21-day window to participate in practices. If that window elapses and the player is not activated to the 53-man roster, the player will remain on injured reserve (as we saw with Mecole Hardman just this past week).
How many players have returned from injured reserve for the Chiefs this season?
A total of six players have returned from reserve lists for the Chiefs this season, but only five from injured reserve:
- CB Jaylen Watson
- TE Peyton Hendershot
- WR Hollywood Brown
- RB Isiah Pacheco
- K Harrison Butker
- DE Charles Omenihu*
*Activated from Reserve/PUP, which counts separately.
Who else remains on injured reserve for the Chiefs?
- WR Rashee Rice (Knee Ligaments)
- LB Jack Cochrane (ACL)
- TE Jody Fortson (ACL)
- WR Mecole Hardman (Knee)*
- OG McKade Mettauer (Knee)*
- WR Skyy Moore (Core Muscle)
- K Spencer Shrader (Calf)
- TE Jared Wiley (ACL)
- DT Marlon Tuipulotu (Undisclosed)*
*Ineligible to return.
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