Perhaps there were other things on Travis Kelce’s mind.
After revealing to WSJ Magazine that he thinks about retirement “more than anyone could ever imagine,” Taylor Swift’s boyfriend had a rough night Monday in the 21-17 loss to the Eagles with the Grammy winner missing the game with her “Eras Tour” concert in Brazil.
Kelce had a costly fumble inside the red zone, dropped another easy pass late in the fourth quarter and did not leave much of a mark on the game with a ho-hum seven catches for 44 yards and one touchdown.
The 34-year-old has not topped 58 yards in his last three games, and has failed to clear 70 receiving yards in seven of his nine games.
“I got to be better,” Kelce said. “Just not playing up to the level that I have in the past, I got to be better.”
Without Swift in attendance this season, Kelce has averaged 41.8 yards per game compared to 108 yards with her cheering him on from a suite.
Kelce has shown he can still be an elite weapon for Patrick Mahomes by tallying 303 yards spanning back-to-back games in October, but he has not consistently been his usual game-changing self this season.
He’s totaled 16 catches for 116 yards and one score over his last three games, which included a three-catch, 14-yard performance before the bye week against Miami.
While he scored Monday, his biggest play of the night likely came when he fumbled at the Eagles’ nine-yard line early in the fourth quarter with the Chiefs ahead, 17-14.
The Chiefs did not come that close to the end zone the rest of the night, although they would have taken the lead had Marquez Valdes-Scantling not dropped a sure-fire touchdown on a deep Patrick Mahomes throw late in the final minutes.
Kelce also had a routine drop on third down late in the fourth quarter as the Chiefs did not score in the second half for the third straight game.
Swift, who has seen some of Kelce’s best games this year, did not attend this week’s “Monday Night Football” contest.
“Turnovers and penalties on our half,” Kelce said of the team’s recent second-half woes. “It’s nothing that they did. All us.”
This inconsistent play from one of the greatest tight ends comes at an interesting time considering his quote to WSJ Magazine about retirement.
Kelce is in his 10th season and the wear and tear are starting to add up.
“That’s the only thing I’ve never really been open about,” Kelce told WSJ Magazine, “the discomfort. The pain. The lingering injuries—the 10 surgeries I’ve had that I still feel every single surgery to this day.”
Kelce and the Chiefs look to rebound and perhaps even score second-half points this upcoming Sunday in Las Vegas in an AFC West matchup against the Raiders.
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