One of Travis Kelce’s Chiefs teammates has defended the All-Pro tight end amid his difficult start to the season.
Kelce, 34, is averaging a career-worst 23 yards per game through three contests and looked rather miserable on the sideline during his team’s win over the Falcons last Sunday night. Some fans have even called for him to ‘retire.’
Nonetheless, his teammate George Karlaftis has told TMZ that the tight end ‘hasn’t skipped a beat.’
‘He’s a guy that loves football, he’s going to come and work his tail off every single day no matter what and teams have to respect him,’ Karlaftis said. ‘He’s the greatest tight end to ever play, you could argue, certainly I think so.
‘You gotta account for him, he’s going to face double and triple teams, that opens up guys like Rashee [Rice], our running game, and stuff like that,’ he continued. ‘So he’s a guy that commands a lot of respect.’
Chiefs defensive end George Karlaftis has backed Travis Kelce amid his difficult start
Kelce looked miserable on the sidelines on Sunday night as he had another quiet night
In his 12th NFL season – and following a busy summer following his girlfriend Taylor Swift on her Eras Tour – Kelce has firmly been a second option behind Rice to start the season.
He has 12 targets thus far while Rice has more than double that with 29.
And analyst Todd McShay believes his offseason travels and ‘partying’ has played a role in his sluggish start.
‘Every show I watch, every pregame show, halftime show, postgame show, weekday show, every broadcast I watch for the last few weeks, it’s like are we not allowed to say that he’s out of shape, that he’s been partying all offseason?’ McShay said on The Ryen Russillo Podcast.
‘He’s been jet-setting around with the most famous person probably in the entire world, that’s he drinking, going to the U.S. Open.’
On the latest episode of his own New Heights podcast with his brother Jason, Kelce acknowledged his less-than-ideal start to the season.
It’s been a slow start to the season for Kelce, who is averaging just 23 yards per game
Kelce attended the US Open with girlfriend Taylor Swift and Todd McShay has blamed his off-field activities for his sluggish start
‘I’ve had a lot of catches in this league, man. 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, I mean, who doesn’t?,’ he said.
‘It has everything to do with execution and just 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 drop in the fourth quarter and the crucial third down, just trying to do too much before putting the ball away.
‘That’s probably the biggest thing for me is making the play in big-time moments like that. I think with how defenses are playing us right now, I’m not really getting a lot of opportunities to make plays down the field, but not using that as an excuse,’ he continued.
‘Moving forward, still trying to make sure I can help the team out in that regard knowing I’ve been that weapon for us in the past. Moving forward, everyone’s just tweaking their game in the right direction.’
The Chiefs are 3-0 even with Kelce’s drop in production, and will look to get him going against the Chargers this weekend.
