Chiefs’ Travis Kelce: I Won’t Get ‘Frustrated’ over Slow Start; 4 Catches in 2 Games

Mike Chiari@@mikechiariFeatured Columnist IVSeptember 18, 2024

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Despite getting off to a slow start individually this season, Kansas City Chiefs superstar tight end Travis Kelce is taking things in stride.

During Wednesday’s episode of the New Heights podcast (beginning at the 21:16 mark), Kelce said the following when asked by his brother, former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, about his lack of production thus far and how he feels about it:

“That’s football, man. I’m not about to sit here and get frustrated about it. I used to get really, really pissed off and almost lose by cool a lot of the time from not having that success, knowing I demand that out of myself. I just like to play the game to such a high level of accountability that it’s tough for me to deal with being mediocre or having stats that represent that.

“I stopped caring about stats about four or five years ago and I just went out there ands started to just play free and wanted to play for my guys. Sure enough, I think that’s the better mentality. You think about it more play by play and what your job is on that specific play. I think moving forward it’s just how can I be better in those moments.”

Through two games this season, Kelce has just four receptions for 39 yards and no touchdowns. That includes making just one grab for five yards in the Chiefs’ 26-25 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2.

It is quite the rarity to see Kelce struggling from a statistical perspective since he is unquestionably one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history.

With the exception of his rookie season, which saw him appear in only one game, Kelce has never finished an NFL campaign with fewer than 67 receptions or 862 yards.

From 2016 to 2022, Kelce made NFL history by becoming the first tight end to top 1,000 receiving yards in seven straight seasons, plus he never had fewer than 83 receptions in a season during that run, and he scored double-digit touchdowns three times.

Kelce’s 1,000-yard streak ended last season, but he still had an excellent year by tight end standards, finishing with 93 catches for 984 yards and five scores.

There was some concern about Kelce’s play dropping off, though, as he didn’t score a touchdown in any of his final six regular-season games in 2023, nor did he top 44 yards in any of his final three games.

Kelce was back to his old tricks come playoff time, though, as he racked up 32 receptions for 355 yards and three touchdowns in four postseason games and played a huge role in the Chiefs winning their second straight Super Bowl and their third in five years.

That momentum hasn’t carried over to the start of the 2024 season, though, and there will likely be more and more questions about the 34-year-old veteran’s form the longer he goes without a breakout game.

Kelce is a nine-time Pro Bowler and a future Hall of Famer, though, and he showed last season that he is capable of flipping the switch when need be.

The Chiefs haven’t needed huge production out of Kelce to start 2-0, but with star running back Isiah Pacheco going on injured reserve with a fractured fibula, Kelce could potentially become a much bigger part of the gameplan starting with Sunday night’s road game against the Atlanta Falcons.