KC Chiefs TE Travis Kelce on Rest, Road Games, Rashee Rice Ahead of Bills Playoff Game
On Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs will do something that quarterback Patrick Mahomes has never done: play a playoff game on the road. The entirety of Mahomes's playoff career has either been played at Arrowhead Stadium or at a neutral site for a Super Bowl. (Excuse the fact that they played the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa for Super Bowl LV — it was still a neutral-site game in the record books.) However, the Chiefs have been excellent on the road during the regular season in the Mahomes era. That topic was one of many discussed by Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce during his press conference on Friday, where he discussed a variety of storylines ahead of KC's trip to Buffalo to face the Bills on Sunday night.
Asked if he could pinpoint a reason the Chiefs have been so solid on the road during his career, Kelce pointed the credit to head coach Andy Reid.
"I think from the top down, Coach Reid does a great job of challenging everyone in the building," Kelce said. "It’s not easy to go anywhere and get a win in the NFL, let alone in the playoffs. With that being said, it's a challenge that has to be met during the week, and Coach Reid does a great job of getting everything organized in that regard."
Kelce fell just 16 yards short of what would have been his eighth-consecutive 1,000-yard season after sitting out the Chiefs' Week 18 game against the Los Angeles Chargers. The result would not have impacted the Chiefs' playoff standing, so many Chiefs starters, including Kelce, rested in preparation for the playoffs.
On Friday, Kelce was asked if he could feel the impact of the week off in KC's Wild Card Weekend game against the Miami Dolphins.
"I noticed throughout the week," Kelce said. "I got to get a lot of good work in. Sometimes after a big game, you just take a few hits, [your] body doesn't get back to tip-top shape until towards the end of the week and you get to play again. That week, I got to get some really good reps in early on, and I think that helped me out even this week coming into this game."
Kelce was also asked about a frequent topic of discussion: the development of rookie wide receiver Rashee Rice. Kelce was asked what impressed him most about the rookie's playoff debut against the Dolphins.
"I mean, obviously, I’m proud of him," Kelce said. "I think he’s come a long way, and I think he’s still ascending as a player in this offense. It’s just been fun to see him rise to the occasion and really just catapult us in a lot of ways both in the pass game and run game. It’s been awesome to see him accept the challenges every single week. Week 10-through-15 as a rookie, you can kind of get lost a little bit, and he’s been real focused throughout that and really hasn’t hit a rookie wall as much as at least I did, for sure."
