Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce has assumed full responsibility for the on-field collision that left his teammate, Xavier Worthy, with a dislocated shoulder.
In the first quarter of the Chiefs’ opening-season game against the Los Angeles Chargers last week in São Paulo, Brazil, the 35-year-old tight end accidentally clipped the shoulder of his fellow wide receiver Worthy, 22, as he was running a play.
Addressing the incident on his New Heights podcast, which he co-hosts with his older brother, retired Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, the Chiefs’ long-tenured player said: “I’ve just got to be better.
“I’m 13 years in the league,” he noted, acknowledging, “There is no excuse for me running into my own guys like that.”
Explaining what went wrong, Kelce said he was “supposed to be running my route at depth for Worthy” and “trying to kind of set up my guy to be able to get into position.”
“And it all just happened pretty quick,” he added, admitting he wasn’t “ready that first drive.”
“I ran into one of my guys and offed him out of the game,” he said. “I literally took one of my players out. That’s one of the most frustrating parts, and it’s hard to get your juices back going, knowing you just hurt a guy. It’s a frustrating way to start off the season, a frustrating way to start off the game.”
Worthy, who was selected by the Chiefs in the 2024 draft, was taken out of the game after he collapsed to the ground in pain following the collision.
On Wednesday, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid offered a promising update on Worthy’s condition, telling reporters that he won’t need surgery and is not being considered for short-term injured reserve, which would mean at least a four-game absence.
Reid assured that Worthy is “doing better and making progress.”
“I owe my guy big-time, man,” Kelce said. “X knows it. I felt like s***. I could barely even f***ing play the rest of that first half, but we geared it up once I found out that he was in better spirits than I imagined at halftime.”
Describing Worthy as “one of our best players,” Kelce predicted the second-year player “is going to take the league by storm when he gets back” and “is going to take that step into being one of the best wide receivers in the National Football League.”
The Chiefs ended up losing to the Chargers 27-21. They are next scheduled to face off against the Eagles on Sunday.
