KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Travis Kelce’s NFL-record streak of consecutive seasons with 1,000 yards receiving ended Sunday before the game even started.
Kelce, the Kansas City Chiefs’ future Hall of Fame tight end, entered the final week of the season needing 16 yards to reach 1,000 for the season.
But with the Chiefs locked into the No. 3 seed in the AFC, coach Andy Reid elected to sit Kelce instead.
He was among seven players, including quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who are inactive for the Week 18 game at the Los Angeles Chargers.
Reid announced at the beginning of the week that Blaine Gabbert will start in place of Mahomes.
Officially, Kelce’s injury designation was listed to out with a neck injury on the team’s website. Mahomes was listed as out with an ankle injury.
Rookie wide receiver Rashee Rice (hamstring), cornerback L’Jarius Sneed (calf), left tackle Donovan Smith (neck) and wide receiver Kadarius Toney (hip/ankle) — a lightning rod after his play cost the Chiefs at least two wins this season, with drops in the opener against Detroit and an offensive offsides penalty in the loss to Buffalo last month — also will be sidelined for the regular-season finale with injuries as Reid announced earlier in the week.
No tight end in NFL history has ever had more than four 1,000-yard seasons except Kelce, whose NFL-record streak for a tight end of seven straight years with at least 1,000 receiving yards started in 2016.
Kelce is a four-time All-Pro, a nine-time Pro Bowl selection and was picked for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s All-2010s team.
Rob Gronkowski, Jason Witten and former Chiefs star Tony Gonzalez rank second all-time with for 1,000-yard seasons by a tight end.
Defensive end Mike Danna is a healthy scratch for Kansas City — which assures extra playing time for rookies Felix Anudike-Uzomah and BJ Thompson, who is active for the first time this season — against the Chargers.
Running back Isiah Pacheco (quad/shoulder), linebacker Nick Bolton (wrist/abdomen), cornerback Trent McDuffie (shoulder) and defensive end George Karlaftis, who rested along with Danna for the first two practices of the week, were all listed as questionable but all are active.
Of course, it remains to be seen how much, if any, the Chiefs’ starters play.
Los Angeles’ inactives include wide receiver Keenan Allen, who is out with a heel injury, along with linebacker Kenneth Murray Jr., wide receiver Jalen Guyton, safety JT Woods, running back Isaiah Spiller, guard Zion Johnson and defensive lineman Nick Williams.
As the AFC West champs, the Chiefs will host either Buffalo, Miami, Houston or Pittsburgh next week during the NFL’s Super Wild Card weekend. The opponent and game time will be announced later Sunday after the postseason field is set.
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