Chiefs TE Travis Kelce Suffers Knee Injury in Tuesday's Practice

Kelce's knee injury impacts his status for Thursday's Chiefs season opener against the Lions.

As the Kansas City Chiefs continue preparing for their regular-season opener against the Detroit Lions on Thursday night, the club got bitten by the injury bug during Tuesday's practice.

According to head coach Andy Reid, superstar tight end Travis Kelce suffered a hyperextended knee and is being evaluated by the team. Reid didn't go into great specifics, although this ailment puts Kelce's availability for Week 1 in potential jeopardy.

"As far as injuries go, Kelce hyperextended his knee today," Reid said. "So we'll just see how he does going forward."

Summed up by Nate Taylor of The Athletic, tight end Blake Bell said the injury to Kelce occurred during a red zone period. Wide receiver Skyy Moore said Kelce left the field limping, but under his own power, which is somewhat positive news in the immediate aftermath of practice. 

Per Carrington Harrison of 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City, an MRI on Kelce's knee has been completed and the team is awaiting the results of it. Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network report that "it's not believed to be a long-term injury" and that Kansas City will "wait for swelling to go down" and proceed after that. Adam Schefter of ESPN adds that the Chiefs believe Kelce's ACL is intact. Early on Wednesday morning, Rapoport reported that the injury was a bone bruise. 

#Chiefs star TE Travis Kelce’s status is in doubt for Thursday night’s opener vs. the #Lions because of his knee injury, but sources tell me and @TomPelissero it’s not believed to be a long-term injury. They’ll wait for swelling to go down and go from there. pic.twitter.com/pzuOYz2wt2

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 5, 2023

Kelce, who is coming off perhaps the best season of his career, hauled in one pass for 20 yards during the Chiefs' recent preseason slate last month. In 2022, the multi-time All-Pro recorded 110 receptions for 1,338 yards and 12 touchdowns while playing in all of the Chiefs' regular season games. In the club's playoff run all the way through Super Bowl LVII, the future Hall of Fame pass-catcher added another 27 catches, 257 yards and four touchdowns. Despite being set to turn 34 this October, Kelce has shown minimal signs of slowing down from his rapid statistical pace as the league's best tight end.

As Kansas City continues to monitor Kelce's injury severity and progress, initial speculation on best and worst-case scenarios is surfacing. David Chao, a former head team doctor in the NFL for 17-plus years, weighed in on X (formerly known as Twitter) with his brief thoughts on Tuesday afternoon.

With Jody Fortson already on the injured reserve list, the Chiefs' tight end room on the roster features the likes of Kelce, Bell and Noah Gray. Matt Bushman is available on the practice squad and could be elevated for game day if Kelce misses any time, which gives Kansas City a bit of flexibility. Reid ran a very healthy amount of sets with multiple tight ends (12- and 13-personnel) last season, and there was no reason to believe that the reliance wouldn't exist again in some capacity in 2023. Kelce is a massive part of that equation; him being limited or rendered inactive would still be a serious blow to the team's scoring prospects on offense.

This story is being updated as additional information is made known.

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