Patrick Mahomes addressed his guilt regarding Rashee Rice's potentially season-ending injury after colliding with the young receiver last week.
Patrick Mahomes made a bad start to Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Chargers disastrously worse, throwing a mystifying interception and, in attempting to undercut the return man, barrelled into Chiefs teammate Rashee Rice's knee.
And while Rice's prognosis appears somewhat improved from gloomy post-game expectations, Mahomes continues to feel remorse for his role in the incident.
"I didn't notice it in the moment, I more worried about trying to get the ball," Mahomes said. "But obviously, was just trying to make a play and it happens whenever you're trying to make tackles.
"I mean, when I saw the replay, I felt like s--- that I hit Rashee," he added. "I think that's pretty much all — I mean, I wasn't worried about myself. I was worried about, hopefully, his injury and hoping it wasn't as bad as it looked because I was the one that hit him."
The disastrous sequence, also likely the most chaotic of Sunday's game, began as Mahomes fired a pass toward Travis Kelce, greatly overthrowing his star tight end and gift-wrapping an interception to Kristian Fulton. As the young cornerback churned down the right sideline, however, Rice made a heady play and punched the football free, sparking a sideline scrum and a chance for Kansas City to retain possession.
Mahomes, as he admits, was more focused on wrapping up Fulton and dove forward despite the loose ball, driving his shoulder into Rice's right knee. The star second-year receiver crumpled to the turf in pain as his right knee visibly hyperextended, not returning for the remainder of Kansas City's AFC West divisional matchup.
Following the game, ESPN's Adam Schefter along with several other sources reported that the Chiefs organization believed Rice had suffered a season-ending ACL injury, with coach Andy Reid adding to reporters, "I'm sure it's not as good of news as we want." But Rice's dip into the MRI scanner Monday afternoon only produced more confusion, with the young receiver planning to visit a specialist in Dallas for a further evaluation of his knee.
Kansas City placed Rice on injured reserve Thursday afternoon, ruling him ineligible for the next four games, but has shown encouraging signs of recovery, with The Athletic reporter Nate Taylor reporting that the former SMU star was walking around the Chiefs locker room. Rice had been the Chiefs' most productive wideout before his Week 4 injury, the team's only receiver to eclipse 100 yards in that stretch.
With the absence of his preferred second-year target, Mahomes rekindled his relationship with Kelce, who made seven All-Pro teams between 2016-2022 but managed just 69 yards through three games this year. Kelce led the team in receptions and production on Sunday as the Chiefs erased an early two-score deficit to win 17-10.
