Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce suffered a reported low-ankle sprain during Sunday’s victory over the Vikings but was able to come back in and play.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes said postgame that the situation was “a little weird” because the injury occurred late in the second quarter just before halftime.
“Then you got back to the locker room, they’re looking at it and stuff like that, but I knew — I mean, obviously it hurts, and if Travis is out of the game it hurts,” Mahomes said in his press conference. “I knew he was trying to get back in. I feel like Travis has the same mindset as I do. If you give him a window of if he can get back in the game, he’s going to get back in the game.
“Competitor, man. That’s why he’s one of the greatest. He will battle through stuff like that and came back and made a lot of great catches for us.”
Mahomes noted that he didn’t check in with Kelce directly at halftime because the tight end has a tendency to be “a mean guy” when he’s hurting. But the training staff told Mahomes that his favorite target was going to try and come back in for the third quarter.
“I saw him actually on the sideline on that first drive. It was the role reversal of me in the playoffs just standing there on the sideline trying to get back in,” Mahomes joked.” No, I thought those other guys stepped up. Big drive at the end of the half to step up and make plays.”
Kelce ended up back on the field for Kansas City’s second possession in the third quarter and caught a 4-yard touchdown to put his club ahead 27-13.
The tight end finished the game with 10 receptions on 11 targets for 67 yards as the Chiefs moved to 4-1.