This offseason started with good news for Kansas City Chiefs fans when tight end Travis Kelce returned for his 14th season. Things had been going smoothly for the 37-year-old veteran until the Los Angeles Chargers game. He had tweaked his ankle, played through the game, and returned for the next matchup against the Seattle.
Ahead of the Broncos matchup, however, Kelce seems to not be at his 100%.
“Rashee Rice, Travis Kelce, L’Jarius Sneed, and Omarr Norman-Lott were limited in practice today,” the Chiefs’ official account on X posted the update.
After being limited in Thursday’s practice with an ankle issue, Kelce was added back to the injury report, according to the team.
In the first quarter of the Chargers game, linebacker Daiyan Henley brought Kelce down with a hip-drop tackle after the tight end caught a screen pass. The next scene the fans remember was the tight end limping off the field. He had to get his ankle taped on the sideline before returning to the contest.
David Chao, a former NFL physician, later evaluated the play and described the injury as a mild high eversion ankle sprain.
Kelce’s ankle injury affected his practice availability ahead of the Chiefs’ Week 7 defeat to Seattle, as he was limited on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. However, Kansas City listed him as a full participant on its initial injury report for the upcoming clash with Denver.
Given Kelce’s injury history, the tight end had a pretty clean record. During his rookie season in 2013, he suffered a knee injury that initially appeared to be a bone bruise but ultimately required a microfracture procedure. The injury restricted him to just one game that year. Since then, Kelce has been remarkably durable.
Per Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, Kelce was rested for two “meaningless” Week 17 games and was absent for the Steelers game in 2021 since he was on the COVID list. He was also inactive for the disappointing 36-0 defeat to the Denver Broncos in the 2024 season.
Kelce’s return to full practice participation proved short-lived. Even if the move was precautionary, it has added some uncertainty surrounding his health before Week 8.
It is not the perfect time for Kelce to be sidelined as he has been on a hot streak this season, breaking records.
Ankle concerns threaten to interrupt Travis Kelce’s record-breaking run
Even though the Chiefs tasted their first defeat of the season, losing 20-3 to Seattle, Kelce had something good to take back home from the loss.
With 1,100 career receptions entering Lumen Field, Kelce was seventh on the NFL’s all-time list. A 19-yard throw from quarterback Patrick Mahomes on third-and-six with 13:11 left in the game pushed Kelce to the fifth position, surpassing Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison.
He finished the game with 1,104 career receptions. Kelce also made NFL history on Sunday night by surpassing Tony Gonzalez for the most combined receiving yards by a tight end, including regular-season and playoff performances.
Kelce was within striking distance of Tony Gonzalez’s career record, needing only 35 receiving yards to move past the former tight end’s 15,413-yard total. Against Seattle, Kelce racked up 44 yards, taking his total to 15,423 total receiving yards.
But he is yet to tick off other records For instance, he is yet to break Jerry Rice’s record for most postseason receiving yards in a career with 2,245 yards. He also surpassed Jason Witten in career receiving yards (regular season only), sitting second on the list. Gonzalez is still the stat leader in this case.
Time to see whether Kelce’s ankle stops him from hitting more milestones.