How long has it been since Rashee Rice played for Chiefs? Just ask him.

Blair Kerkhoff, The Kansas City Star on Oct 17, 2025

Published in Football

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Rashee Rice didn’t know the exact number of days since he played in his last game, but his estimate was more than a guess.

“I’ve been looking forward to it probably for I think it’s been like 380 days that I haven’t played a game,” Rice said.

He was very close: When Rice takes the field for the Chiefs this weekend — they meet the Las Vegas Raiders at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium at noon Sunday — it will have been 385 days since his last action.

In his last game, Rice suffered a season-ending knee injury. That was in a Week 4 game last year at the Los Angeles Chargers. He was trying to make a tackle after Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw an interception, and Rice’s knee banged into Mahomes’ helmet.

This year, Rice’s season debut was delayed by a six-game NFL suspension. The punishment was handed down for a violation of the league’s conduct policy stemming from his role in a car crash in Dallas last year.

Rice rehabbed his knee while his case worked its way through the legal system. He had returned to practice by the time he learned about the length of the suspension, which was announced in August.

Under NFL rules, Rice during the six-game suspension could attend team meetings but not practice with the Chiefs. He worked out in Florida to remain in football shape before resuming practice alongside his teammates this week in Kansas City.

“I was able to realize how strong I am mentally,” he said, “being able to face a lot of adversity.”

Including the postseason, Rice has missed the last 22 Chiefs games. He’s played in 24 since being drafted and as rookie went from being a non-starter to leading the team in receptions, yards and touchdowns.

Rice also came up big in the playoffs, with 26 receptions in four games as the Chiefs won their third Super Bowl in four years following the 2023 season.

Absence made Rice’s heart grow fonder for the sport.

“I learned that I love the game of football,” Rice said.

On Sunday, Rice will join Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and Xavier Worthy as the front line of the wide receivers corps the Chiefs have envisioned for two years. The trio played one snap together — the first of the 2024 presesaon opener at the Jacksonville Jaguars — before Brown suffered a sternoclavicular injury that kept him out most of last season.

Rice suffered that injury before Brown returned from his own. Worthy was a constant performer as a rookie last season, but he missed nearly three games to begin the 2025 season after suffering a shoulder injury in the Chiefs’ opener against the L.A. Chargers in Brazil.

They’re all back now — Worthy, Brown and Rice.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Rice said. “The time is here.”