KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Wide receiver Rashee Rice underwent surgery last week to repair the posterolateral corner of his right knee, rather than the anterior cruciate ligament that was initially thought to have been damaged in a win over the Chargers, he said. Chiefs coach Andy Reid on Monday.
The nature of the injury and subsequent procedure do not significantly change Rice's recovery timeline. He will still miss the rest of the season and it is unclear if the repaired knee will be ready for the start of training camp in July.
“It's probably the same result you get over time as an ACL. It’s going to take a while to get back to that,” Reid said as the Chiefs got back to work after their bye. “He will go into rehab and get to work as we move forward.”
The only other injury news involved pass rusher Mike Danna, who was working on a pectoral injury during the bye week.
The Chiefs are one of only two undefeated teams left in the NFL, along with the Minnesota Vikings. They play Sunday in San Francisco in a rematch of the Tremendous Bowl, which Kansas Metropolis won in February to win its second straight Lombardi Trophy.
The Chiefs have been hit hard by injuries at key positions, losing wide receiver Marquise Brown to shoulder surgery before the season and running back Isiah Pacheco to a fractured right fibula. So far, they've been able to rebuild the roster in part by bringing back a couple of familiar faces: wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and running back Kareem Hunt.
Smith-Schuster had seven catches for 130 yards, while Hunt ran 27 times for 102 yards and a touchdown in a 26-13 win over the New Orleans Saints before halftime. It was the first time Hunt, who was unsigned after a sports hernia procedure, had started for the Chiefs since they released him amid off-field issues in 2018.
“I kind of joke with him that he spent the bye week in the cold tub after all those carries,” Reid said. “But as I mentioned before, he came back in pretty good shape, apart from not having played football, and that holds true to this point.”
The Chiefs could also get running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire back this week. The former first-round pick began the season on the non-football illness list and spent time with the scout team after he was designated to return two weeks ago.
“I want to talk to him first before we do anything public,” Reid said, “but we're very happy to have him here.”
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