KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Monday that he hopes wide receiver Rashee Rice — who was arrested last week in connection to a multi-vehicle, multi-injury, hit-and-run car crash in Dallas — has learned from his expensive and dangerous mistake.
Reid publicly commented on Rice’s arrest for the first time during a video conference as the two-time reigning Super Bowl champion Chiefs officially kicked off their voluntary offseason program.
“As long as he's learned from it, that's the important part of it and we'll take it from there and see what takes place, but right now we're just kind of gathering everything and trying to make sure we have all the bases covered there,” Reid said.
Rice faces eight charges in connection to the crash, which involved four vehicles and sent several people to the hospital, and has been named in a $1 million civil lawsuit over damages caused in the wreck.
Rice, who was driving 119 mph in a leased Lamborghini just before the crash, turned himself in to police after an arrest warrant was issued.
Reid said he’s been in contact with Rice — a 2023 second-round pick, who led all Chiefs wide receivers with 79 catches for 938 yards with seven touchdowns as a rookie last season — and is monitoring ongoing legal proceedings.
“I want to keep gathering information from the law enforcement people, and we'll just see where everything goes from there (and) let the process take place,” Reid said.
Rice is expected to participate in the voluntary work, which includes workout with quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the Dallas area and Zoom meetings with Chiefs coaches.
“There's no real participation other than my zoom, so he'll participate in that,” Reid said. “But other than that, we don't have anything going on here that he would be involved with.”
Mahomes, who also spoke via video conference Monday, said he’s also been in touch with Rice and expects that to continue.
“I've worked with Rashee throughout the offseason and just in general, so I'm sure we'll continue that work as the legal process plays out,” Mahomes said.
Wide receiver is widely viewed as one of Kansas City’s biggest positions of need in next week’s NFL Draft despite the free-agent addition of veteran Hollywood Brown.
Rice’s legal situation, which likely will result in a suspension at some point under the NFL’s Personal Conduct Policy, further complicates the Chiefs’ draft preparation.
“We've got spots and depth that we could use really everywhere,” Reid said. “We'll just see with the whole Rashee thing how that goes, but we should have, when it's all said and done, we should have players in there ready to go.”
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