The Kansas City Chiefs are hoping for a great season from Rashee Rice as he enters Year 4 of his career. Rice had himself quite the offseason and not for the better. Not only did he need to have a surprise surgery on his right knee but he also spent a month in jail after testing positive for TCH while on probation.
Rice spoke to the media on Tuesday after practice and discussed everything that happened this offseason. One thing that fans might have been asking themselves is why did Rice wait to get surgery on his knee? He answered that.
"Honestly I just thought it was probably something with a little bit of swelling. I didn't know it was something that needed to have surgery, so you're taught to just keep going until you can't anymore and it was the perfect time for me to get it cleaned up so that it wouldn't affect me for the season, so I was ready to go regardless."
Sure, that makes sense when looking it at from this perspective. Football players are taught to fight through stuff and Rice thought that's what he needed to here. Once he learned it needed surgery, he knew the timing would work out and that he could be back in time to help Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense in the regular season.
Rashee Rice reveals surprising approach to difficult offseason
Having to spend a month in jail would have given Rice an excuse not to be in football shape but he spoke about the experience.
"I think it went good. I was in there early in the morning until it was time for me to go, as much as I could work. Constantly doing that over and over, just kinda basically believing in what they had for me to make sure my knee was strong and ready for the field," Rice said. "I had times where I could talk to my trainers. There were times where me and Pat during the summer were just grinding in the facility, just me and him and the trainers. So it's always good to keep building that relationship on and off the field and just kinda having somebody that you know will always have support from them."
It sounds like, despite the rocky offseason, Rice approached it the best way he possibly could have. It sounds like Patrick Mahomes was a big motivator for him as well and that's always good to see that kind of relationship between a quarterback and his wide receiver.
Rice also touched on how he managed to stay positive during a rough patch.
"I'm doing good mentally. Got the right group of guys around me. Just good agents, good coaches, a small circle on anybody else outside that's not a part of the football team. Just keeping my head straight and keeping me a positive attitude."
Chiefs fans are obviously going to be skeptical of anything that Rice says given how his career has gone to this point. The hope is that he's learned his lesson and can come away from this experience as a better human being. He's also in a contract year so the motivation is there for him to ball out and try to get the bag, whether it's from the Chiefs or someone else. We'll have to see how it all plays out.
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