Kansas City’s Super Bowl journey began without one of their star players, Travis Kelce, who missed the 2023 NFL Kickoff Game against the Detroit Lions due to a knee injury. The Chiefs’ head coach, Andy Reid, explained why he chose to let Kelce take a break. He said Kelce wasn’t feeling well, and he appreciated Kelce’s honesty about it.
Andy Reid on decision not to play Travis Kelce (knee): "He just wasn’t feeling right, so I wasn’t going to put him out there with that."https://t.co/WWbM2XDopo pic.twitter.com/k2jTaOP89f
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) September 8, 2023
“He just wasn’t feeling right, so I wasn’t going to put him out there with that, And he was honest with me, and we talked. So just not enough time there.” : Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said after the Chiefs’ loss Thursday night
Kelce is a really good tight end who has been selected to the Pro Bowl eight times. He had a knee injury during practice, but the doctors said it was just a bruise and not a serious issue. Still, this injury caused Kelce to miss a game for the first time since he started playing in 2013.
With Kelce out, Noah Gray is expected to step up as the starting tight end for the Chiefs. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes may also target wide receivers like Skyy Moore, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Kadarius Toney more frequently to compensate for Kelce’s absence.
Kansas City had an impressive track record, with eight consecutive season-opening wins, eight straight victories overall (including playoffs), and 16 consecutive wins against NFC teams in regular-season games since 2019. These impressive streaks faced a challenge from the rising Lions, who didn’t have to worry about defending one of the NFL’s top tight ends in Kelce.
