Superstar Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs has expressed his concern for teammate Rashee Rice, saying that the leg injury the player sustained in their most recent game felt like a “huge dagger” to him.
In the first few weeks of the 2015 NFL season, the defending Super Bowl winners had won four games in an attempt to complete an unprecedented “Three-peat”. Although the team’s most recent victory over the Los Angeles Chargers was undoubtedly a triumph, Rice’s potentially season-ending injury may prove to be a turning point in the campaign.
The 24-year-old was hauled off after the victory after he was left writhing in agony on the ground following an unplanned collision with teammate Patrick Mahomes. Following this, Rice was added to the team’s injured reserve roster, which means he will miss a minimum of four of Kansas City’s next games.
This season, the wide receiver has been impressive so far. He leads the league with 24 receptions and ranks second among the league’s top players in terms of receiving yards (288). Veteran running back Kelce acknowledged on his podcast that he was worried about his teammate and that the guy was important to the Chiefs’ offense.
The Chiefs’ offensive set-up depends heavily on the ace, as brother Jason Kelce noted when they spoke with him on their “New Heights” program. “On the offensive side of the ball, we’ve got to get rolling, man, and it’s not going to be any easier seeing Rashee (Rice) go down during the game,” Kelce said.
“I just love the way that guy was playing the game of football, how he was attacking every single day in practice,” he continued. “Sometimes you just root so hard for the guys that do it the right way, and Rashee had been doing that, man. It was a huge dagger to me when I saw him go down.’
“Outside of that, found a way to get the ball in the end zone late, running the hell out of the ball. Our offensive line is our biggest weapon right now, those guys up front are […] paving the way, tight ends included with Noah Gray and my guy J (Jared) Wiley coming in, wide receivers doing their job, and the run game.’
Kelce added: “You’ve gotta find a way to win ball games, and sometimes it takes those little things that don’t get the highlight all the time. Wide receivers going in and digging out safeties for an extra four, five yards. Running backs running their tails off, getting those extra two, three yards.”
The Chiefs will play the San Francisco 49ers in the upcoming weeks, followed by games against the Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Although Rice’s injury has not yet been made public, he will not participate in either of those games.
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