After missing the first six games of the 2025 season due to suspension following his involvement in a high-speed crash, Kansas City Chiefs‘ wide receiver Rashee Rice is right in the middle of yet another off-field controversy. His ex-partner, Dakoda Jones, filed a lawsuit claiming that the wideout physically assaulted her during a span of 18 months. With the proceedings set to take place soon, Rice’s attorney has finally opened up on the matter.

“On October 9th, 2025, well after the parties’ relationship had ended, Ms. Jones stated under penalty of perjury in a sworn Affidavit for Non-Prosecution that ‘Mr. Rice and I had a verbal argument, but he did not punch me,'” his attorney, Sean Lindsey, said.

“We will allow the legal process to run its course and have no further comment at this time.”

One of Dakoda’s attorneys, on the other hand, decided not to comment on the matter. In the civil lawsuit worth $1 million, Dakoda Jones claimed that Rashee Rice physically assaulted her multiple times and in multiple ways, including grabbing, choking, strangling, scratching, and head-butting her in Texas and Missouri until July 2025.

The lawsuit wasn’t just limited to the physical harm Rice caused Dakoda, but also to the property. It also alleges that he punched walls, caused harm to the property, broke furniture, and proceeded to lock her out of the house at night. The $1 million in damages stems from physical pain, mental anguish, impairment, disfigurement, and the cost of medical care.

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This isn’t coming out of the blue, since Dakoda decided to go public about the abuse on Instagram last month, but hadn’t taken legal action.

“I’m so tired of keeping quiet I’m so tired of protecting his image, she wrote on Instagram. “I’ve been through too much in a span of 8 years and I’ve had ENOUGH!” She said she and Rice broke up in 2025 “and since then it’s been nothing but hell.”

In the post, she had a bruised lip, with more bruises on her legs and chest, and multiple scratches across her body. She also referred to Rashee Rice as the father of her children. More developments are yet to come, and another talking point would be how this would affect Rice’s 2026 season.

Chiefs react to the lawsuit against Rice

After starting the season with a suspension, the Chiefs were hoping their WR1 could be relied on much more next year, but this lawsuit might change that. The team made a statement about the lawsuit on Wednesday.

“The club is aware [of the lawsuit] and remains in communication with the National Football League,” the statement read.

A month ago, when Dakoda went public about the abuse, the NFL also claimed that it would conduct a thorough investigation into the matter, and after Wednesday’s lawsuit, the league said that “the matter remains under review.”

Taking the sporting implications into account now, this is a big blow to the Chiefs, and in particular, to quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Despite playing in just eight games this season, Rice racked up 53 receptions for 571 yards and five scores, and was one of the most productive wideouts for the team statistically.

The team has been looking for a true WR1 option for a while now, since they haven’t possessed a 1000+ yard receiver in the last three years, and also fired WRs coach Connor Embree this year. Keeping the 8-game production in mind, it felt like Rice could’ve broken past that deadlock had he played every single game.

This isn’t the wideout’s first off-field controversy, as he has also been involved in an aggravated assault case, when he and another speeding driver caused a major crash, and was also suspected of involvement in an assault that took place in a Dallas nightclub. These issues keep nullifying his football ability, and the Chiefs might have to resort to using their draft pick on a WR this season.