Kansas City Chiefs superstar tight end Travis Kelce has not exactly been his most dominant self so far this season, but it sounds like quarterback Patrick Mahomes still believes in him.
Through three games, Kelce has just eight catches for 69 yards, averaging just 23 yards and less than three catches a game.
This is obviously a pretty brutal turn of events for Kelce and the Chiefs as he just signed a contract this offseason that made him the highest-paid tight end in the league, and he’s certainly not producing like it.
But Patrick Mahomes does not sound all that worried about it.
In a press conference this week, Mahomes offered his reaction to Kelce’s struggles as he made it clear that Kelce “just wants to win” and is not concerned about his individual production.
“I feel like I want to give him the ball more, whereas he’s just like, ‘I just want to win, man. I don’t care, I’ll run these routes and take guys with me so that other guys can get open,’” Patrick Mahomes said in his Wednesday press conference according to Pro Football Talk.
“We understand he’s an important part of this offense, and we want to make sure that we’re still featuring him, but at the same time, if defenses are going to take away him, I’ll feed the ball to other guys and let them make plays.”
But Mahomes seems to think Kelce will eventually get his dominant numbers.
“As the season goes on, if we continue to show that we’re going to throw it to Rashee [Rice] and we’re going to throw it to these other guys and they’re going to make plays, teams are going to have to do those one-on-one matchups and that’s when Travis will eat,” Mahomes said.
We’ll have to see whether or not Kelce is able to have a strong game this week.