KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A bad bounce of the ball off the hands of Travis Kelce turned a potential touchdown into an interception in a 20-17 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. When discussing the play with his brother Jason on their podcast Wednesday, Kelce said he’s “got to catch the ball.”
“I got to be there for my guys, man, knowing that they put a lot on my plate to, you know, be a good player for this team, and I need to answer that bell, man,” Kelce said on the podcast.
But in the locker after practice on Friday, Kelce said he doesn’t believe the team is asking too much of him at this point in his career.
“No, I was just stating that they asked me to do a lot in terms of making this offense go, and I put it accountable on me to be better, knowing that this offense could be better,” Kelce told Chiefs Digest in the locker room Friday. “That’s all it really was, just letting everybody know that I love that (stuff) and I’ll get it fixed. That was all I was saying.”
Yet Kelce’s workload has become a topic of discussion through two games, with the soon-to-be 36-year-old tight end playing 97 snaps, accounting for 80% of the team’s plays. While that’s slightly down from 84% last year, it’s a pace of 825 snaps. Only two tight ends since 2012 have played more snaps in their age-36 season or later: Tony Gonzalez played 1,003 snaps at age 37 and 966 snaps at age 36, while Jason Witten played 845 snaps at age 37.
Kelce explained that he defers to the offensive coaching staff in determining his workload.
“At this point in my career, I kind of have to, I kind of (do) that,” Reid said. “And we got some good tight ends in the room, guys that can go out there and get the job done no matter what. So trusting in that process, as well as you know, still having that desire to be out there every single play, without causing any conflict, or, you know, messing with the flow of the offense.”
When asked on Wednesday about the responsibilities on Kelce’s plate, coach Andy Reid dismissed any notion of a connection between Kelce’s drop and playing too many snaps.
“Yeah, no listen, I mean, Travis made so many of those catches right there,” Reid said. “I don’t think it is an age thing or anything, at that point. He’s fine. We try to keep an eye on him the best we can.”
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes said he “honestly doesn’t know” whether Kelce has too many responsibilities on the offense at this point in his career.
“I know he wants to be out there at the end of the day,” Mahomes said. “He wants to have the chance to make the plays happen, and he’s made the plays happen for years. I don’t feel like we ask for too much from him, but we ask for him to be out there and be himself and just be who he is. I think that in itself is enough for us.
“That’s probably a question you can ask Trav, but I feel like he’s in a good spot and it’s hard to get him off the field I know that,” Mahomes said.
Kelce made it clear that if he ever feels he’s a drag on the offense, or he needs to come off the field because he needs a break, it won’t be the Chiefs’ coaches who will have to make that decision.
“I’ll retire if I ever start doing that,” Kelce said. “If it ever gets to that point, you’ll see me on the sidelines.”
