Patrick Mahomes Defends Travis Kelce Amid Criticism of Tight End's NFL Performance

Patrick Mahomes knows that teamwork makes the dream work. 

The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback shared insight into teammate Travis Kelce’s slow start to the NFL season and emphasized how the team continues to stand behind the tight end. 

“Yeah, it’s crazy because the team’s still—the respect factor they have for Travis is just unreal,” Patrick told reporters after the Chiefs' win against the Atlanta Falcons Sept. 22. “It’s well-deserved, but we’re calling a lot of plays for Travis, and it’s like two or three people are going to him.”

“He understands,” he continued. “I think that’s the great thing about him. He wants to make an impact on the game, but he wants to win at the end of the day. I’m going to try to keep doing my best to keep feeding him the ball whenever he’s there, whenever he’s open.”

Patrick also noted that because the opposing teams are focused on covering Travis it leaves other Chiefs players open.

Despite the Kansas City team winning all three of their games so far—the first two of which his girlfriend Taylor Swift attended—Travis did see a dip in his averages, according to NBC Sports. While last year’s average was 10.6 yards per reception, this season’s has been 8.6. And this year, he’s earned 2.7 receptions per game as opposed to last year’s 6.2. 

Meanwhile, Travis previously shared that he’s not upset about his track record this season.

“For whatever reason, these past two games, it hasn’t gone that way for me,” he told brother Jason Kelce during the Sept. 18 episode of their New Heights podcast. “That’s football, man. I’m not about to sit here and get frustrated about it. I used to get really, really pissed off and almost lose my cool from not having that success, knowing that I demand that out of myself.”

“I like to play the game to such a high level of accountability that it's just tough for me to deal with being mediocre or having stats that represent that,” he continued. “I stopped caring about stats about four or five years ago and I just went out there and started to play free and play for my guys.”

Remaining calm has given Travis a better opportunity to view the game clearly. 

“I think moving forward is just, ‘How can I be better in those moments?’ he explained. “What’s the issue? Am I not on my route fast enough? Whatever the situation may be, it’s all play-specific.”