Travis Kelce is weighing in on the ongoing criticism surrounding his recent performance on the football field.
“We’re finding ways to win games and we’re not playing our best football,” the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, 34, admitted during the Wednesday, September 25, episode of the “New Heights” podcast. “Everybody can clean it up.”
While the Chiefs are currently 3-0 to start their NFL season, fans have focused on Kelce’s playing — and his lack of scoring. The tight end caught four passes for 30 yards during a game on Sunday, September 22, against the Atlanta Falcons and only has eight catches overall for the season so far. (The Chiefs beat the Falcons 22-17.)
“I think everyone saw my drop on in the fourth quarter — the crucial third down — just trying to do too much before putting the ball away,” Kelce told brother and podcast cohost Jason Kelce of Sunday’s game. “That’s probably the biggest thing for me — making the play in big time moments like that.”
Kelce said he’s “not really getting a lot of opportunities to make plays down the field” because of the other teams’ defenses.
“I’m not using that as an excuse. Moving forward, still trying to make sure that I can help the team out in that regard, knowing that I’ve been that weapon for us in the past,” he continued. “Moving forward, it’s just everyone’s tweaking their game in the right direction. We know what we have to do to get better this week.”
Following Sunday’s game against the Falcons, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes spoke to reporters about Kelce’s gameplay and also referenced opposing teams’ defenders.
“The respect factor they have for Travis is just unreal,” Mahomes explained, noting that it’s harder to get Kelce the ball. “It’s well-deserved but, I mean, we’re calling a lot of plays for Travis, and it’s like two or three people are going to him.”
He added: “I’m gonna try to do my best to keep feeding him the ball whenever he’s there, whenever he’s open.”
Kelce told Jason during Wednesday’s podcast that he’s not getting “caught up” in all the online chatter.
“I just want to have a successful offense, and I think Pat’s doing a great job of finding the open guy and making the right decisions right now,” he continued. “It’s a new offense, new players, new pieces. We’re just finding how to have success throughout the season.”
Kelce is no stranger to the “ups and downs” of the offense.
“You just want to make sure that you clean up all the mistakes, you’re making sure that you’re communicating so that everybody understands exactly where we’re going moving forward,” he said.
The athlete also reiterated that he’s not focused on his stats. (Kelce said he “stopped caring” about numbers on a previous “New Heights” episode.)
“I’ve had a lot of catches in this league, man,” he said. “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.”
The Chiefs are set to play the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, September 29.
