Chiefs’ Travis Kelce accepts blame for Xavier Worthy’s injury
Travis Kelce took responsibility for the play in which Xavier Worthy was injured in the Kansas City Chiefs’ season opener in São Paolo, saying Wednesday there’s “no excuse” for what happened and why the injury occurred.
Kelce shared his perspective in the “New Heights” podcast that he co-hosts with Jason Kelce, his brother, when discussing the Chiefs’ 27-21 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Friday night. Travis Kelce said he took the “most accountability” himself for the defeat as one of the team’s top leaders.
“I ran into one of my guys and offed him out of the game; I literally took one of my players out,” Kelce said of Worthy. “That’s one of the most frustrating parts, and it’s hard to get your juices back going knowing you just hurt a guy.”
Worthy, the Chiefs’ second-year player and the team’s fastest receiver, suffered a right shoulder injury while running a crossing route to gain separation against the Chargers’ man-to-man coverage. He collided with Kelce, who was running a crossing route in the opposite direction. Worthy fell to the turf in pain and didn’t return to the game.
“I’m 13 years in the league. There’s no excuse for me running into my own guys like that.”
Travis Kelce
Before Wednesday’s practice, coach Andy Reid said that Worthy doesn’t need surgery, and the team doesn’t plan to place him on the injured reserve list. If Worthy, who didn’t participate in Wednesday’s on-field work, is not available for Sunday’s Super Bowl rematch against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Chiefs hope he can return in a couple of weeks.
“[He’s] doing better and making progress,” Reid said of Worthy. “He’s just rehabbing here.”
Without Worthy, the Chiefs fell behind by 10 points early in the second quarter to the Chargers, who forced quarterback Patrick Mahomes to finish Friday’s game with 39 passing attempts. Many of Mahomes’ 14 pass attempts in the second quarter showed how much the Chiefs’ offense changed without Worthy. Mahomes completed 10 of those passes, but his average depth of target was just 4.1 yards, a clear contrast to his averaging 15 air yards per pass attempt in the first quarter.
“I’m supposed to be running my route at depth for Worthy, so it’s frustrating for me,” Kelce said. “I was trying to kind of set up my guy to be able to get in a position and it all just happened pretty quick. And I just got to be better, man. I’m 13 years in the league.
“There’s no excuse for me running into my own guys like that. Worthy has his guy beat and we’re out the gate, and that game starts completely different.”
The Chiefs are optimistic Worthy could be uniform in Week 4 on Sept. 28 against the Baltimore Ravens, a source told ESPN.
“I’m not sure where he’s at health wise, but I’m hoping that we get him back as fast as possible because he means so much to this team,” Kelce said. “I can see that guy and how hard he works, and I can see his game getting better, and I know he’s going to take the league by storm when he gets back.”
The Chiefs were already short-handed at receiver with rookie Jalen Royals not making the trip to Brazil because of a knee injury and Rashee Rice serving a six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.
Kelce gave credit to receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Tyquan Thornton for stepping up after Worthy’s injury. Hollywood Brown led the Chiefs with 10 receptions for 99 yards.
“They kept us in the game there,” Reid said Wednesday of the trio. “I thought they did well catching the ball and a few yards after the catch. It was good to get [Brown] back in the swing.”