NFL Reportedly Changing Plans on Potential Suspension for Rashee Rice

After suffering a serious-looking right knee injury in Week 4 in Los Angeles, an official diagnosis on Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice has yet to be released to the public.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Sunday that the 24-year-old is "feared to have suffered a torn ACL." However head coach Andy Reid told reporters on Thursday that the team is still waiting to conduct more testing next week after swelling subsides from Rice's knee.

A new report from Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio on Friday could help "explain why the Chiefs have tapped the brakes on confirming that the ACL is torn, if it truly is."

According to Florio, the NFL may be in the process of changing its plans to speed up the timeline on Rice's potential suspension, which would stem from a six-vehicle hit-and-run accident in Dallas, Texas on March 30 that sent two people to the hospital and injured two others.

"The goal will become, we believe (and we’re told), to resolve the eight pending felony charges and to serve any suspension this year, while he’s otherwise unable to play," Florio wrote. "Then, come 2025, the incident, and the injury, will be behind him. Some might call that cynical. Others would regard it as strategic. Because it is."

Dallas police determined Rice was driving a Lamborghini that was "speeding in the far-left lane," along with a Corvette, according to the police report. Rice later turned himself into the authorities, publicly apologized and vowed to cooperate fully .

The league previously issued a statement to Florio on Aug. 13 that it has been "monitoring developments in the matter" and planned to review everything "following the conclusion of the legal process" — as is standard procedure for the NFL.

Rice's charges include "one count of aggravated assault, one count of collision involving serious bodily injury and six counts of collision involving injury," according to USA Today .

Prior to suffering the injury, which resulted from a friendly fire hit by quarterback Patrick Mahomes following a turnover, Rice had recorded 24 receptions, 288 yards and two touchdowns in his first three games of 2024.

It appears Rice is likely to miss the remainder of the season one way or another.

Related: Chiefs Pushed to Trade for $12 Million Rashee Rice Replacement Right Now

Related: Roger Goodell Reveals Major Changes Coming to the NFL