Two weeks into the 2024 NFL season, one of the biggest storylines around the Kansas City Chiefs is Travis Kelce‘s low production so far. The tight end, however, is not blaming quarterback Patrick Mahomes nor head coach Andy Reid.
Speaking with his brother Jason on their weekly podcast, ‘New Heights’, the 34-year-old made it clear that he has no one to blame but himself for his poor stats in two games with the Chiefs in 2024.
“I put that on me,” said Kelce, who has only four catches for 39 yards through the first two weeks of the 2024 NFL season. “I didn’t play my best, and it spreads if you don’t fix it and I’ve got to get that thing fixed.”
The three-time Super Bowl champion with the Chiefs was held to just one catch for five yards last time out against the Cincinnati Bengals, and was targeted only seven times by Mahomes this season. Even so, Kelce let everyone know this is not the quarterback’s fault.
“If you want to catch the football, (1) it has to be the right play, (2) it has to be the right coverage, and (3) it has to be everybody doing their job up front and on the back end in terms of running their routes. … For whatever reason, for these past two games, it hasn’t gone that way for me. That’s football,” Kelce said.
Travis Kelce lets Reid know he’ll handle moments of frustration
Kelce’s surprisingly poor stats make many wonder how he’s dealing with this situation and for how long the Chiefs star will be able to handle it without getting frustrated. Only a few months ago, a visibly angry Kelce pushed Reid after being pulled during Super Bowl LVIII. The tight end is aware that his competitive nature can be a double-edged sword, which is why he vowed not to get mad at Reid again.
“I’m not going to sit here and get frustrated about it,” Kelce said. “I used to get really, really pissed off and almost lose my cool a lot of the time for not having that success, knowing that I demand that out of myself.
“I just like to play the game to such a high level that it’s tough for me to deal with being mediocre or having stats that represent that. Moving forward, it’s just, ‘How can I be better in those moments? What’s the issue? Am I not getting out into my routes fast enough?’ or whatever the situation may be.”
Mahomes says Kelce’s stats will improve soon
Mahomes knows he hasn’t connected with his favorite weapon as much this season, but not because he didn’t want to. According to the Chiefs quarterback, the opponents are preventing him from finding Kelce as often as he would like.
“They’re doing a great job of just kind of having two people for him pretty much the entire game,” Mahomes said. “That’s why you’ve seen guys like Rashee (Rice) and (Xavier) Worthy – I mean, if you look at the first touchdown, I’m actually looking at Trav (Travis Kelce), and the backside safety goes all the way across the field to help guard Travis, and then you throw the ball down the sideline to Rashee, and that’s kind of what they’ve been doing.”
Even though Kelce’s stats this year aren’t great, Mahomes believes this won’t last long: “Obviously, we’ve played two opponents that we’ve played a lot, so they have a plan on how they’re going to account for Travis. As the season goes on, he’s going to get his catches, he’s going to get his yards. The leader that he is – what’s special is he’s hyping everybody up, he’s keeping everybody motivated, and that’s what you need out of your great players.”