Seattle Seahawks wide receiver was lost for the season last October when he suffered a torn ACL in a game against the St. Louis Rams in October.
Despite the knee injury, general manager John Schneider said Wednesday that Rice is “absolutely” expected to be ready for the start of the regular season on Sept. 4 against the Green Bay Packers.
Rice was ultimately released this offseason in a move to clear up salary cap space. After a couple free agent visits, Rice re-signed with Seattle on a lesser contract earlier this month.
“When we released him it was hard but we explained the landscape to Sidney and his representative and we stayed in contact with him all the way through it,” Schneider said.
Rice was cleared to resume football activities on April 14. Two days later he re-signed with Seattle. Rice appeared in eight games for the Seahawks last season. He caught 15 passes for 231 yards and three touchdowns before landing on injured reserve.