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The Kansas City Chiefs won’t have to wait long before WR Rashee Rice returns to the football field following a serious 2024 knee injury.

Rice was off to a tremendous start to his second season in the NFL, pacing for over 1,600 receiving yards and 11 touchdown receptions. He had two 100-yard receiving games in the first three weeks of the 2024 NFL season. A collision with quarterback Patrick Mahomes against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 4 caused an LCL injury that required surgery, ultimately ending a promising sophomore campaign.

When will he return to the field for Kansas City? The Chiefs’ head coach, Andy Reid, recently indicated that Rice is expected to be ready to rejoin his teammates when the most crucial piece of offseason training begins.

Chiefs WR Rashee Rice expected to be ready for training camp

Rice has been actively posting updates on his progress and offseason training regimen on social media. They paint the picture of a player working hard to return better than ever after a significant season-ending knee injury. What does Rice’s timeline for a return look like, though?

At the annual league meeting in West Palm Beach, Florida, KC Star columnist Sam McDowell asked Chiefs HC Andy Reid whether Rice would be ready for training camp.

“He’s on track to be ready,” Reid said. “We’ll see. He’s working his tail off right now, I know.”

The Chiefs can begin their offseason workout program on April 21, with OTAs beginning in May. Rice may be limited during those periods, but the team expects full clearance for the third-year wide receiver when training camp arrives in July.

Just because Rice will be cleared to return from his knee injury does not mean he’ll be the same player immediately. Every player and position recovers differently from varying injuries. However, recent examples from Kansas City, such as Isiah Pacheco and Charles Omenihu, show that it can take an extended period to regain form. Expectations for Rice, at least early on, should be relatively low.

While it’s good to know Rice is trending in the right direction to be available health-wise, questions remain about a potential violation of the NFL’s personal conduct policy stemming from a high-speed multi-vehicle crash and alleged street racing incident in Dallas, Texas, on March 30, 2024.

What’s the latest on a potential suspension for Chiefs WR Rashee Rice?

While Rice is expected to be suspended for the aforementioned off-field incident, the timing of a suspension remains unclear. He faces eight criminal charges but has yet to be formally indicted.

In early March of 2025, it was revealed that Rice’s attorney, Texas State Senator Royce West, was granted a continuance to fulfill his legislative session obligations

Texas law forbids continuing civil and criminal cases until 30 days after a legislative session has adjourned. The current session of the Texas legislature runs from Jan. 14 through June 2, which means any trial involving Rice cannot legally begin until July 2, 2025, at the earliest.

The counsel for the rental company of the vehicles involved in the crash recently told The Dallas Morning News that they felt West, as a state politician, had “undue influence” on the proceedings.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell clarified ahead of the 2024 NFL draft that the league would wait for the legal situation to run its course before investigating and potentially suspending Rice. Here we are, practically a year later, and the legal process is no further along than it previously was.