Travis Kelce has been ruled out of the Chiefs’ regular season finale, joining Patrick Mahomes on the sidelines for Sunday’s game against the L.A. Chargers, as he will miss out on an eighth consecutive season of 1,000-plus receiving yards.
The team’s update came roughly two hours before this weekend’s game at SoFi Stadium, with Chiefs head coach Andy Reid resting his starting signal-caller being listed as the official reason for the two-time Super Bowl champion’s omission.
Kelce, who is also being rested by Reid, only needed 16 receiving yards against the Chargers to extend his club record and NFL record for a tight end with his eighth consecutive 1,000-yard season.
Chiefs veteran backup QB Blaine Gabbert will start instead of Mahomes in L.A. It will be his first start since 2018, back when he was on the Tennessee Titans. It will also be the Gabbert’s 49th start of his career.
Gabbert, who has played for six teams in 12 seasons, said he doesn’t expect many changes with him running the offense.
We run coach [Andy] Reid’s offense, and ultimately, that’s what we’re going to run. Every quarterback is different, every quarterback does things differently, some things better than others et cetera, et cetera,’ Gabbert said.
‘We’re just going to run our offense. Hopefully throw to the open guy, run the ball well and score some points.’
Along with Kelce and Mahomes, the Chiefs could rest several other key players on Sunday, and potentially cost them some significant milestones.
Besides Kelce, wide receiver Rashee Rice needs 58 yards receiving to break Dwayne Bowe’s franchise rookie record. And defensive tackle Chris Jones needs a half-sack to trigger a $1.25 million bonus for reaching 10 on the season.
Reid will not be sitting all of his starters, and he knows there are some meaningful numbers at stake.
‘It depends on what the milestone is. We´ll see how all that goes,’ Reid said.
The Chargers (5-11) have dropped four straight and seven of their last eight. They are locked into a top-eight draft pick while they search for a new coach and general manager. Brandon Staley and Tom Telesco were fired on December 15.
In the midst of one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history, the Bolts would like to end on a winning note for interim coach Giff Smith.
‘The motivation to get ready for this game is not an issue. You have seen these last two games, these guys have come out and played hard. We just have to find a way to get over the hump,’ Smith said. ‘As far as anything personal goes, that’s kind of irrelevant to me right now. I want to do right by these guys and the organization and go out there and beat Kansas City.’
