Rashee Rice makes feelings known on awaited return from season-ending injury - “Lot of people ready for me to come back”

Rashee Rice had a strong rookie year two seasons ago with the Kansas City Chiefs, contributing to them winning a Super Bowl ring. He finished the regular season with 938 yards and followed that up by adding 262 yards during their postseason run.

This resulted in him having great expectations last year, but his season was cut short due to an injury. He was limited to three full games where he caught 288 yards.

Rice appeared on an episode of the "I Am Athlete" podcast to discuss his return for the upcoming 2025 NFL season. Rice said:

"I mean obviously there's a lot of people ready for me to come back next season. So really, my main focus is to make sure I'm back to where I left off before I got injured, and then basically take a couple steps forward from that.

"I basically ain't even scraped the surface of what I was going to do. I was really surprised with myself throughout those first three games, just to be able to basically see everything I was doing in the offseason coming to life."

Rashee Rice expects to take another step forward when he returns for the 2025 season. Considering his strong performances, as well as the Chiefs' wide receiver situation this year, doing so may be crucial to their offensive success next season.

Rashee Rice's return from injury may be key to Chiefs' 2025 NFL season

Rashee Rice

The Chiefs are in a transitional period when it comes to their wide receiver position. Many of their contributors from last season are on expiring contracts, including Hollywood Brown, DeAndre Hopkins, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Mecole Hardman and Justin Watson.

This means Xavier Worthy and Nikko Remigio are currently the only contracted wide receivers who recorded a reception last season. They obviously need to address the position during the offseason, but a healthy Rashee Rice puts them in a favorable situation.

Pairing him with Worthy can potentially serve as a dangerous duo for Patrick Mahomes in their passing offense going forward as both have shown to have massive upside in their young careers.