Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes made a somewhat surprising admission on Thursday about the play that injured teammate Rashee Rice.
Rice suffered a serious knee injury after Mahomes took out the wide receiver’s leg while trying to recover a fumble following an interception. Mahomes addressed the play again on Thursday, and admitted that he was not even aware of what he had done until he got the chance to see a replay of the incident, and admitted it left him feeling awful.
“When I saw the replay, I felt like s— that I hit Rashee,” Mahomes said Thursday, via Adam Teicher of ESPN. “I wasn’t really worried about myself. I was worried about his injury and hopefully that it wasn’t as bad as it looked. I was the one that hit him.
“I didn’t notice it in the moment. I was more worried about trying to get the ball. Obviously, he’s just trying to make a play, and it happens whenever you’re trying to make tackles.”
The whole thing was a fluke, but it’s easy to understand why Mahomes would feel bad. He more or less took out his top wide receiver, and while the Chiefs still have not confirmed that Rice is out for the year, things certainly appear to be trending that way.
The Chiefs will have to move on quickly, as they prepare for a home game Monday against the New Orleans Saints. Now that Mahomes is down two major pieces that he expected to have this season, he will have to do some even heavier lifting to keep his team unbeaten.
