For Travis Kelce, chasing the stats in the Chiefs' final regular-season game “never felt right.”
Kelce said Wednesday when discussing the team's decision to keep him out of last Sunday's game against the Chargers, ending his streak of consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. On the podcast “New Heights” He didn't like coming into the game looking for extra yards.
“I never felt it was right to chase statistics,” said Kelce, who finished the regular season with 984 receiving yards.
“I've been in and out of practice all week, and then on game day all of a sudden I come to practice and try to get 15, 16 yards of whatever, which you don't expect. Even though he scored over 100 points against the Chargers earlier in the year, it's hard to do that twice against the same team. Yeah, it's never right. I didn’t feel it.”
The Super Bowl-winning tight end, 34, had seven consecutive seasons of eclipsing 1,000 yards, including a career-high 1,416 yards in 2020.
With a wild-card matchup against the Dolphins looming, Kelce added that he remains focused on the playoffs.
“It had nothing to do with my health, it had nothing to do with whether I was going to get hurt or not. Rather, it just didn't feel right and in my gut, it just didn't feel right. 'That's how I should play the game,' he said.
“We were going to get some rest for next week, stay off the L.A. turf, and if we could avoid getting hit, we would be ready for the playoffs.”
In addition to Kelce, starting QB Patrick Mahomes missed Week 18, and backup Blaine Gabbert led the Chiefs to a 13-12 victory.
“I didn't think it was right to try to go 16 yards. I just wanted to bring some energy to the sideline and get my guys out there and lock them up. And sure enough, they did. Thank you, baby,” Kelce said. .
It was “not an easy decision” for Kelce to sit out, but he quipped that a financial incentive could have convinced his brother and podcast co-host, Eagles center Jason Kelce, otherwise.
“If I had a $1.25 million incentive, I could hit it 1,000 yards,” Jason said, to which Kelce responded, “I'd like to get 1,000 yards. They couldn't take me off the field. ”
Kelce and the Chiefs will return to action Saturday night when they host the Dolphins at Arrowhead Stadium in a game that will be televised on Peacock.
Kansas City is the No. 3 seed in the AFC.
