Andy Reid: It’s a win-win to add Rashee Rice into the mix

Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice is officially back from his suspension this week, and he’s practicing on Wednesday as Kansas City gets set to play Las Vegas.

Rice has not played since suffering a season-ending knee injury in Week 4 of last season. But after a strong rookie year and a strong start to his second season, Rice should be a piece who can make Kansas City’s offense even more effective.

Head coach Andy Reid told reporters in his Wednesday press conference that Rice will definitely play in Week 7, but the club has not yet determined his workload.

“I think he’s excited to be back in and going,” Reid said. “I think getting through practices here will be good for him to kind of get back into the swing of things. And we’ll see how everything goes from there.

“But, he’s been working hard. He’s in good shape.”

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes noted that Rice isn’t going to be concerned about any kind of pitch count.

“He’s going to want to be out there every single play,” Mahomes said in his press conference. “I think that’s the mentality he has. I think it’s going to be our job as teammates and coaches to kind of build him back the right way. But it’s going to be hard to keep him off the field, for sure.”

Reid did not say too much about Rice’s potential contributions this week, given that the receiver hasn’t played in over a calendar year. But Rice’s return does bring some juice to the entire offense.

“He’s unique because of his size and ability after the catch to play physical,” Reid said. “And so, you’ve got some speed guys and smaller guys, and then he and JuJu [Smith-Schuster] are kind of similar body types and game types — the way they play their game. But he gives you flexibility, yeah. And the guys feed off that.

“They love the kid, so it’s a win-win either way to add him into the mix.”