Yes, Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice remains in jail. Yes, that makes his rehabilitation program from a knee surgery he had days before his month-long term began something of a challenge. And, yes, none of this is great news for a player who has been something of a headache for the NFL team.
But, no, the Chiefs aren’t getting rid of Rice.
They’re actually offering support. Keeping in contact. Have future plans for him.
And hoping the 26-year-old learns a life lesson so that, perhaps, he can stop getting into trouble.
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“As far as Rashee goes, we’re aware of the situation (and) the league’s aware of it,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid told reporters on Thursday. “We’ve talked to the league, we get it. As far as any further ado to that, there has been no talk about anything further.
“We’re moving forward just normal as we go here.”
A pause to access the Andy Reid translator app: When the coach says the team is moving forward “normal as we go” that means there are no plans to change Rice’s status.
CHIEFS RECEIVER RASHEE RICE JAILED FOR 30 DAYS AFTER PROBATION VIOLATION AND IT COULD GET WORSE
He’s not getting released.
Further evidence of that is that Reid talked about plans for the receiver when he gets out of jail on June 16.
“When he gets back, he — we have to get him caught up in doing what he needs to do,” Reid said. “But again – make sure he gets it. It’s not an easy thing he’s going through. Life lessons are important, but we’re all given chances to learn and he’s in that position now.
“I know lessons can be learned and that’s important.”
And there it is: The Chiefs see the latest chapter in Rice’s story as a chance for him to learn about life, not one in which they punish him.
Rice is in the Dallas County jail because he violated the terms of his probation when he tested positive for THC (marijuana) while he was under court orders to avoid alcohol and drugs. The court orders were part of a July 2025 plea agreement that put him on probation for five years and ordered him to serve 30 days in jail over a five-year span in connection to driving charges he pleaded guilty to after a 2024 wreck he caused.
The presiding officer who heard Rice’s probation violation hearing ordered Rice to serve the 30 days immediately and that is the sentence he’s now serving.
The problem with that, of course, is Rice had surgery on his right knee just days prior to his hearing. He would have been expected to be ready in two months after that procedure under normal circumstances.
But because he’s not getting the normal rehab on the knee that would be provided if he was around the team’s training facility, his status for the start of training camp is in question. And Reid didn’t seem positive that won’t be an issue.
“Yeah so, we think he’ll be ready for camp as we go forward,” the coach said. “We’ll just see how it goes. He’s been in communication with (Vice President of Sports Medicine and Performance) Rick (Burkholder) and he knows the rehab that he can do there and I think they’re keeping an eye on him as far as any possible infection goes.”
Back to the Reid translator app: The coach isn’t saying Rice will be good to go for the start of training camp in late July, but rather for camp at some point. And the idea the club is monitoring the player for any possible infection doesn’t sound great.
All of this, of course, would be moot if Rice merely stayed out of trouble and followed through on past pledges to learn from mistakes.
After his trial last year, Rice vowed he was “completely changed” and had grown from his experience with the car crash that left multiple people injured.
“I’ve learned and taken advantage of being able to learn from something like that,” Rice said.
The lesson obviously didn’t fully take and now Rice is sitting in a cell getting more life lesson education.
