The Kansas City Chiefs cannot afford to be without Travis Kelce. But the future Hall of Fame tight end appeared to suffer an injury on Sunday. What happened to Kelce, and what’s his current injury status?
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Travis Kelce Injury Update
Kelce slipped on the turf after catching a pass from Patrick Mahomes. His right leg appeared to give way, and he fell to the ground.
#Chiefs TE Travis Kelce appeared to go down with a non-contact injury on this play
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) October 8, 2023
Noncontact injuries are always terrifying, and Kelce’s reaction after the play was anything but positive.
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Kelce slammed his helmet to the ground and looked incredibly frustrated. He gingerly limped to the sideline before departing for the locker room.
Travis Kelce slams his helmet in frustration and walks gingerly to the #Chiefs locker room
pic.twitter.com/wM5uQToYXC— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) October 8, 2023
The CBS broadcast reported that Kelce is undergoing X-rays on his right foot. Kansas City has since announced he is questionable to return as he gets his foot evaluated.
Thankfully, Kelce jogged back to the Chiefs’ sideline after halftime with his right ankle heavily wrapped.
He had his helmet on but did not play on Kansas City’s first third-quarter drive. Instead, Kelce was jogging and stretching on the sideline and even (playfully) tried to sneak back onto the field and join the Chiefs’ offensive personnel.
Kelce eventually returned to game action when K.C. began its second third-quarter drive. But it will be worth monitoring his health during the rest of today’s game.
Kelce is believed to be dealing with a low-ankle sprain, according to NFL Network. That’s a better diagnosis than a high-ankle sprain, which typically comes with a four-to-six-week return timetable.
Following the game, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid gave an update on Kelce, saying, “He’s hurt. Be a little sore. Pretty tough kid, so I wasn’t sure where we were going at halftime,
so, he loves to play.”
Reid continued to expand on what was going through his mind when Kelce came out of the game with the injury, and whether he knew the full extent of it.
“No, it wasn’t clear. Until he came out and told me. You guys probably saw that,” said Reid. But he said, just give me a minute. I’m going to get this thing right. So he did a bunch of drills on his own there just working with it. You know, our training staff was working with him during halftime, and Rick does a great job. Pretty amazing.”
On Tuesday, Reid told reporters that Kelce would practice ahead of Kansas City’s Thursday night game against the Denver Broncos.
Chiefs’ HC Andy Reid said Travis Kelce (ankle) will practice today as KC prepares to host Denver on Thursday night.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 10, 2023
Kelce missed Week 1 with a knee injury. The Chiefs managed just 20 points in that loss to the Detroit Lions, while none of the club’s wideouts topped 50 receiving yards.
Fantasy Fallout From Kelce’s Injury
A serious injury to Kelce could drastically change the fantasy football outlook for one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL. If Kelce misses any time moving forward, Mahomes will fall out of the QB1 overall spot in the weekly rankings.
Chiefs tight ends Noah Gray and Blake Bell would both be worth speculative adds to see how their roles would expand with Kelce out of the lineup. The Chiefs WR group has failed to produce a reliable weekly fantasy option, but players like Skyy Moore, Kadarius Toney, Rashee Rice, and Justin Watson could see extra work in the passing game if Kelce misses an extended amount of time.
— PFN Fantasy Analyst Derek Tate