Travis Kelce has spoken out for the first time about his terrible start to the NFL season after his miserable reaction on the Chiefs’ bench went viral Sunday night.
Kelce has had the lowest production in any three-game stretch of his entire career to start the 2024 season, and has been criticized by analysts and fans alike.
Many have pointed to his hectic offseason and life away from football with Taylor Swift as a possible reason for his on-field decline, but Kelce has now spoken out, insisting, “It’s football, baby!”
Speaking on the latest episode of his New Heights podcast alongside his now-retired brother Jason, Travis said: “I’ve had a lot of catches in this league, man. I don’t worry about catches and yards and all that, I just have more fun when they throw the ball to me, I mean, who doesn’t?
“It’s all about execution and making sure we’re doing everything we can to win these football games, that’s always going to be the goal. I think everyone saw my downfall in the fourth quarter and on the crucial third down, just trying to do too much before putting the ball in play.
Travis Kelce is off to a horrible start to his 2024 season with just eight receptions in three games.
Kelce has been in a high-profile relationship with Taylor Swift for just over a year.
“Probably the most important thing for me is to make the play in big moments like that. I think with the way defenses are playing us right now, I’m not really getting a lot of opportunities to make plays down the field, but I don’t use that as an excuse.
“Going forward, I’ll continue to try to make sure I can help the team in that regard, knowing that I’ve been that tool for us in the past. Going forward, everyone is adjusting their game in the right direction.”
In every season of his career so far, tight end Kelce has averaged more than 10 yards per game, but this season he’s down to 8.6 and has had just eight receptions in three games.
While the Chiefs have managed to win all three of their games (against the Ravens, Bengals and Falcons), quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been passing the ball to his best friend Kelce far less than many expected.
Kelce has now broken his silence on the difficult first three games of the NFL season.
NBC analysts Cris Collinsworth (left) and Rodney Harrison (right) criticized Kelce on Sunday
The reason for this is unclear, but Kelce is determined to move forward and believes change is coming.
“Whatever it is, it’s football, kid,” he added. “I’m not obsessing about getting goals and all that, I just want to have a successful offense and I think Pat’s doing a great job of finding the open player and making the right decisions right now, and we’ve got to keep finding, it’s a new offense, new players, new pieces and we’re just finding how to be successful 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 you’re correcting all the mistakes, making sure you’re communicating so everyone understands exactly where we’re going moving forward.
“Nobody does it better than Coach (Andy) Reid and Pat Mahomes in that regard.”
Kelce was seen on the sidelines looking particularly miserable on Sunday night, and coincidentally it was the first game his girlfriend Swift missed this year.
NBC lead analyst Cris Collinsworth admitted he was “stunned” by Kelce on Sunday night, having also watched him struggle in Week 1 against the Ravens.
Kelce took to his New Heights podcast to discuss his troubling start to the season.
Kelce talked about the confidence he has in his quarterback and best friend Patrick Mahomes (left)
He said in commentary: ‘I’m flabbergasted. I mean, one game is no big deal. Two games, it’s fine.
“This is the third game where we haven’t seen the magic of (Patrick) Mahomes and Kelce, and I can’t really explain it.”
Rodney Harrison, another NBC analyst, blamed Kelce’s recent lackluster performance on his other commitments.
He said: ‘He’s busy. He’s got a lot going on. Think about it. He’s doing a lot of different things. Media-wise, he’s playing football, he’s got other things going on.
“When you are in that situation you have to forget about everything else and concentrate 100 percent on football. That is the main responsibility.
“He (Kelce) just doesn’t have the same speed. He’s still a good player, but I don’t think he’s a great player.”
Swift was spotted on a casual night out with her best friend Gigi Hadid in New York City on Saturday.
Perhaps the clearest indication of Kelce’s declining support in football right now is that his loudest supporters are Taylor Swift fans.
The criticism, particularly from Harrison, sparked a furious backlash from Swifties who took to social media to defend him.
One posted: “This is a very absurd discussion topic. Because if you really pay attention to Trav, he is 150% focused on football.
“Outside of the podcast (which he records on his day off), we don’t see him. All the ‘stuff’ we see him involved in, he did during the offseason. I’m tired.”
