The Kansas City Chiefs finally have star wide receiver Rashee Rice back from injury, and the vibes are great again ahead of a Week 8 matchup with the Washington Commanders.
Rice, of course, managed two touchdowns in his first game back from a long one-year-plus hiatus due to both injury and suspension. On October 21, the KC playmaker even announced a bit of positive news on X, dropping a trailer for new behind-the-scenes footage documenting his recovery from knee surgery.
The first episode of this YouTube docuseries will air later today, on October 21, and can be found on Rice’s personal YouTube channel.
The announcement quickly caught the attention of fans and followers, drumming up over 1.4K likes in approximately five hours.
More Could Be Asked of Rashee Rice & Chiefs Offense in Week 8 vs. Commanders
The Chiefs offense was fantastic in Week 7, but it feels like we didn’t even get a full taste of what Rice and company can accomplish due to the ineptitude of the Las Vegas Raiders.
With the shutout scoreline putting the game out of reach, Kansas City pulled most of their starters toward the end of Rice’s 2025 debut. KSHB 41 beat reporter Nick Jacobs shared the snap counts after the game, and Rice only ended up playing 41% of the offensive snaps.
But it felt like he could have done much more, if needed.
Of the KC wide receivers, Xavier Worthy was out there the most in Week 7, with just 48 offensive snaps out of a possible 81. This equated to 59%.
Rice was next after that, followed by JuJu Smith-Schuster (36%), Hollywood Brown (33%), Tyquan Thornton (33%), rookie Jalen Royals (20%), and WR/returner Nikko Remigio (15%).
Needless to say, the Chiefs could ask more of Rice and their starting offense in Week 8 versus the Commanders, although Washington could be without star quarterback Jayden Daniels — which would increase the odds of another lopsided affair.
Patrick Mahomes Credits Rashee Rice’s Offseason Work After Big Chiefs Return
After Rice’s return, quarterback Patrick Mahomes noted that he and his WR1 put a lot of work in behind the scenes to make sure they’d be ready whenever Rice retook the field.
“We worked on that throw all offseason,” Mahomes said of the touchdown fade route to Rice. “To be able to do that in the season — kind of like we did in the preseason — was good to see.”
From the moment Rice stepped in between the white lines, it was business as usual with his QB.
In fact, per The Athletic’s KC beat reporter Jesse Newell and TruMedia, “Rice was targeted 10 times while running 19 routes Sunday. That target percentage — 52.6 percent — was the fourth highest for any NFL player in a game this season, with a minimum of 15 routes run. It was also the second-highest total by any receiver, trailing only the Seattle Seahawks’ Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s Week 1 total against the San Francisco 49ers.”
In other words, expect Rice to get the ball a lot now that he’s back. His overall numbers should only increase as he takes more snaps within the offense.
“I was a little cautious with [Rice] on how many plays and all that,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said after the game. “But I thought he came out and functioned at a high level for being gone for all this time. It’s crazy that he can come back and do what he did and do it at the level that he did it at.”
Chiefs Star WR Rashee Rice Turns Heads With Week 8 Announcement