Travis Kelce has opened up about his sour mood during the showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, leading some to speculate that it had something to do with his relationship with Taylor Swift. And despite the Chiefs 22–17 victory over the Falcons for their third straight win, many have speculated that the 34-year-old star tight end hasn't been playing with his usual gusto.
After all, Kelce has managed just eight receptions for 69 yards and zero touchdowns across the first three games of the season. And amid his downcast appearance on Sunday, he had recorded only four receptions for 30 yards, leading one viral tweet to proclaim "free Travis Kelce."
However, in the latest episode of his New Heights podcast on Wednesday that he hosts with his brother, retired NFL star Jason Kelce , Travis chalked it all up to the game of football.
"We're finding ways to win games and we're not playing our best football," Kelce admitted, as far as his thoughts on the game. "I think everyone saw my drop in the fourth quarter and the crucial third down, just trying to do too much before putting the ball away. And that’s probably the biggest thing for me is making the play in big-time moments like that. I think with how defenses are playing us right now, I’m not really getting a lot of opportunities to make plays down the field, but not using that as an excuse."
"Moving forward, still trying to make sure I can help the team out in that regard knowing I’ve been that weapon for us in the past. Moving forward, it's just—everyone’s just tweaking their game in the right direction," he continued. "We know what we have to do to get better this week, going out west to play the Chargers, and I'm excited of the challenge baby."
When Jason pointed out that his brother has been actively targeted by the opposing teams, Travis likewise didn't sweat that either.
"Whatever it is, it’s football, baby. I’m not getting caught up in getting the targets and all that," Kelce countered. "I just want to have a successful offense and I think Pat [Mahomes] is doing a great job of finding the open guy and making the right decisions right now, and we have to keep finding—it’s a new offense, new players, new pieces and we’re just finding how to have success throughout the season."
“As an offense, you’re going to go through these ups and downs throughout the season and you just want to make sure that you clean up all the mistakes, that you’re making sure that you’re communicating so that everybody understands exactly where we’re going moving forward," he explained. "And nobody does it better than coach [Andy] Reid and Pat Mahomes in that regard."
Jason noted that this is hardly the first time the Chiefs have experienced a slump, as they did in the middle of last season, but went on to clinch their third Super Bowl championship in five years. "I mean you're running the ball like crazy," he said, adding that he understands his brother's frustrations.
“I’ve had a lot of catches in this league, man, I’m not worried about the catches and the yards, and all of that, I have the most fun when I get the ball thrown my way, I mean, who doesn’t?" Kelce surmised. "It has everything to do with execution and just making sure that we're doing whatever we can to win these football games man, that's always going to be the goal."
It will be interesting to see how the Chiefs hold up against Los Angeles this coming Sunday, and whether Swift will be at the game to give her beau an apparently much-needed morale boost.
Local News
