KANSAS CITY, Mo. — How close was Travis Kelce to playing Thursday in the Kansas City Chiefs’ season-opening loss against Detroit at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium?
Apparently, not very close, which shouldn’t be a surprise if you really consider how remarkable it would be for anyone — much less a nearly 34-year-old, 10-year NFL veteran — to play in a pro football game two days after suffering a hyperextended knee and bone bruise.
Kelce — who hadn’t missed a game due to injury since his rookie season, a span of 143 games dating to the start of 2014 — tested the knee he injured Tuesday at practice before the game.
“It wasn’t feeling right,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said after a 21-20 loss to the Lions, “so I wasn’t going to put him out there. He was honest with me and we talked, just not enough time there (to heal).”
Reid said Kansas City didn’t alter its game plan after Kelce’s injury, which isn’t surprising again given that there was only one day to prepare for his absence, but there’s little doubt it had an impact.
“You’re losing one of the best — I think, the best — tight ends of all time,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “But other guys have got to step up. It’s going to have an impact on the game. But other guys have to step up, and they’re going to have to step up in moments because I’m sure there are times he’ll get doubled. So, we’re just going to have to rely on these other guys that are young and talented to step up and make plays, and I think they will.”
On Thursday, it didn’t happen.
Eleven players caught passes for Kansas City, but none generated more than 48 yards as Mahomes finished 21 of 39 for 226 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, which Lions rookie safety Brian Branch returned for a 50-yard touchdown off a dropped pass by Kadarius Toney.
Would it have been different Kelce? Probably, and maybe even enough for Kansas City to win, but that isn’t how Thursday played out.
“No excuses at all,” Reid said. “We’ve got guys that can play. We were right there to take care of business. They got us on special teams (fourth-down fake punt) and continued the drive. They got us on the tipped ball (Branch’s pick-six).”
Detroit did enough to win; Kansas City didn’t.
Now, the Chiefs hope they won’t have to learn any more tough lessons without Kelce. But they realize they also have to be prepared in case he needs more time to heal.
“It changes a lot,” veteran tight end Blake Bell said of not having Kelce on the field. “Like you said, he’s the GOAT, man. So, without him out there, he’s our leader in the room and everything, but you’ve got to win, man. I think we’ve got other good guys in the room, too. We battled our tails off all week in practice, but we fell short. We’ve got to keep practicing and getting better.”
“It’s unusual for the guys that dropped the ball to drop the ball,” Reid said. “That’s not what I’ve seen from them and I wouldn’t expect them to do that. You take care of business there and you’ll be all right.”
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