Chiefs TE Travis Kelce avoids long-term injury

A big sigh of relief has been heard throughout the Chiefs Kingdom. Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce suffered a hyperextended knee late during practice on Tuesday. While his status for Thursday night's season opener remains in doubt, the MRI results are in, and they seem to have revealed good news for Kelce. According to NFL […]

Charles Goldman — NFL Managing Editor

Sep 5, 2023 5:15 PM EDT

A big sigh of relief has been heard throughout the Chiefs Kingdom.

Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce suffered a hyperextended knee late during practice on Tuesday. While his status for Thursday night's season opener remains in doubt, the MRI results are in, and they seem to have revealed good news for Kelce.

According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, Kelce is not feared to have suffered a long-term injury. He says that the team will wait for the swelling in his knee to go down and take things from there. ESPN's Adam Schefter adds that the team will conduct more tests on Wednesday to determine if he can play in Week 1.

#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

We won't know Kelce's official game status against the Lions in Week 1 until Wednesday afternoon. That's when the Chiefs will release their final injury report complete with game status designations. They've released today's report, which had Kelce listed as a limited participant in practice.

If Kelce is listed as questionable on Wednesday, there remains a chance that he could play against Detroit. Anything other than questionable likely means that the team is leaning toward Kelce being ruled out or that they've already ruled him out. Ultimately, it will all come down to how quickly the swelling in his knee is resolved.

Keep in mind that Kansas City gets a miniature bye week between Week 1 and Week 2 given the fact they're playing the Lions on Thursday night. Letting Kelce rest the knee this week with the potential to play in Week 2 against the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road might be in the best interest of both the team and the player.