Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce remained limited in practice Thursday with the reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks looming on Sunday night, according to the official Chiefs.com Week 7 injury report.
Kansas City is already missing Rashee Rice and Tyquan Thornton, according to reporter Daniel Arwas, so who catches Patrick Mahomes’ passes if Kelce can’t go?
Kelce was limited Wednesday, too. The same report shows Rice (hamstring and knee) and offensive lineman Jaylon Moore (concussion) sitting out both days, while Mahomes, who is listed with a knee issue of his own, took full part in each session.
Chargers linebacker Daiyan Henley brought Kelce down after a screen-pass catch in the first quarter of last Sunday’s 22-6 win at Arrowhead Stadium. Trainers examined and taped the ankle on the sideline. Kelce returned to the game.
He finished with four catches for 53 yards, including a 24-yarder from Mahomes.
“Kelce tweaked his ankle there,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said after the game, as quoted by RG. Reid added that Kelce “might be a little sore tomorrow, but he did a nice job tonight.” Kelce has 20 catches for 299 yards and two touchdowns through five games.
Kelce’s Chances of Playing Against the Seahawks
Limited participation is a practice designation, not a game status, and Kelce doesn’t have a game status yet. The Chiefs issue those after Friday’s session.
NBC Sports sees him playing. Kelce doesn’t need a full practice to play Sunday, and he projects as the starter, according to NBC Sports reporter Nic Bodiford. Kelce ranked second on the Chiefs in targets against the Chargers despite the ankle, and a Week 7 absence would surprise NBC Sports reporter Aditya Fuldeore, who points out that Sunday is National Tight End Day.
A review of NFL practice reports from 2017 through 2023 tracked injured players for whether they played on Sundays. Across all injury types, 71 percent of players listed as limited in their final practice of the week took the field, according to Footballguys analyst Adam Hutchison. Full participants played 86 percent of the time. Players who didn’t practice at all played 29 percent.
Hutchison calls the final practice of the week the most predictive indicator, and for Kelce that comes Friday.
Will Taylor Swift be in the stands at Lumen Field? No confirmed report says so. Swift attended the Oct. 18 win at Arrowhead Stadium with Este Haim and Caitlin Clark, and Kelce played through the ankle injury with her in the building. She skipped the Chiefs’ game against the Las Vegas Raiders, according to Town & Country magazine.
Kansas City Chiefs Passing Game Without Travis Kelce
Kelce holds 18.4 percent of the Chiefs’ 147 targets through Week 6, second only to Xavier Worthy’s 19.7 percent, according to StatChasers. Running back Kenneth Walker (15.0 percent), Rice (11.6 percent) and Thornton (10.2 percent) fill out the top five.
Thornton dislocated an ankle on a 55-yard catch against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 4 and is expected to miss most or all of the regular season, Arwas reported. Rice and Thornton together account for 21.8 percent of the targets. Add Kelce’s 18.4 percent, and 40.2 percent of Kansas City’s passing volume would be gone.
Other options exist. Noah Gray, Jalen Royals and Emmett Johnson combine for 19.0 percent of the targets, according to StatChasers. Walker leads the NFL with 665 rushing yards.
Mahomes keeps 89 percent of his throws under 20 air yards, the same report shows. Kelce’s share of the targets has dropped 9.2 percentage points since the first two weeks of the season, and he plays 77 percent of the offensive snaps.
Mahomes spoke about Kelce at his Wednesday press conference.
“Now he’s able to do a lot of freelancing in the offense because we are on the same page,” Mahomes said.
Friday’s practice report comes next. The inactives list, due about 90 minutes before kickoff Sunday night, delivers the final answer on whether Kelce is available.
Chiefs Announce Concerning Travis Kelce Update Before Seahawks Game