Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce will miss his first game in nearly a decade on Thursday night, but there is reason to believe this will only be a one-week issue.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported that Kelce is being held out of Thursday’s season opener out of an “abundance of caution.” The tight end is only experiencing mild discomfort in his knee, and there appears to be optimism that he will be able to return for Week 2 against Jacksonville.
Per source Kelce not playing is out of an abundance of caution. Knee is structurally fine. Swelling going down. Mild discomfort in knee. Hope is to play next Sunday at Jaguars.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) September 7, 2023
In addition, James Palmer of NFL Network noted that Kelce had pushed hard to play in Week 1 and may even be ahead of schedule.
The fact that Kelce pushed to play tonight, and there was a chance, is a good sign for next week. Originally it was considered a possible 1 to 2 week timetable and now it appears he might be on the shorter side of that. https://t.co/OhVH5zcjsP
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) September 7, 2023
Kelce’s injury created a brief initial scare, but it sounds like it never got worse than some swelling. It is only Week 1, so there is virtually no reason for the Chiefs to compromise his health for the rest of the season this early on.
