If you don’t think Kansas City Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice has been counting the days since his return to the football field, you’d be wrong.
On Friday, when meeting with the media, the receiver who was recently reinstated from suspension was asked about how long he has been looking forward to rejoining his teammates.
Said Rice, “I think it’s been like 380-something days I haven’t played a regular season game.”
Officially, the time span between Rice’s last NFL game, on Sept. 29, 2024, and Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders will be 385 days, but Rice made his point: his return to the field has been a long time coming.
His absence has been well documented. In March 2024, Rice was racing another driver on a highway in Dallas at speeds reaching nearly 120 mph when his Lamborghini struck other vehicles, causing a multi-vehicle crash. Rice then fled on foot without checking on others, according to prosecutors. Rice, who did not play the final 13 games of the 2024 season after tearing a ligament in his right knee, pleaded guilty to two third-degree felony charges, which led to the six-game suspension to start this season brought down by the league.
With his knee healed and his suspension over, Rice is ready for his return and even posted a video on social media on Wednesday hyping his return.
“It’s been a long time coming, and the time is finally here,” he said Friday.
And with the receiver set to rejoin the Chiefs on Sunday, SportsLine player prop expert Alex Selesnick likes Rice’s chances to contribute immediately. So Selesnick, who is 1,008-799 and up $3,213 on all prop picks since joining CBS Sports in 2021, has made Rice Over 56.5 total receiving yards (-139) against the Raiders one of his five best player prop bets for the NFL’s Week 7.
Why does Selesnick like Rice on Sunday?
“First and foremost, Patrick Mahomes is back playing at an elite level, coupled with the Chiefs offense being extremely pass-heavy this season,” he says.
Selesnick also notes that Las Vegas plays zone coverage 80% of the time this year (fifth-highest rate in the NFL) and Cover 3 46% of the time (second-highest rate in the league). That bodes well for Rice who excels against both zone (28% targets per route run and 3.08 yards per route run) and Cover 3 (29% TPRR and 3.32 YPRR).
Kansas City offensive coordinator Matt Nagy is excited about finally having the opportunity to get Rice, Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown all on the field at the same time.
Said Nagy, “I get goosebumps just thinking about when [Rice] goes out there and what he does to this offense.”
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