Travis Kelce’s Denver Broncos Injury Scare Puts Kansas City Chiefs On Alert As Fresh Update Changes The Conversation Around His Status

Chiefs get fresh news on Travis Kelce after injury scare© Getty via AFP

Travis Kelce limped through the Kansas City Chiefs' loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday, and for a moment it looked like his ankle had given out again. The tight end appeared to aggravate the injury he picked up against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 6. He stayed in, finished with five catches for 67 yards, and head coach Andy Reid left him off the postgame injury list. The Chiefs fell to 5-2 after back-to-back losses to the Seattle Seahawks and Denver, and they can hardly afford to lose him.

Travis Kelce's ankle scare against the Broncos

The scare came on a first-down throw to Cyrus Allen. “Travis Kelce is really laboring/limping after that first-down throw to Cyrus Allen,” Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star reported via X.

Kelce has been playing on a sore ankle since Week 6, when he hurt it against the Chargers. He finished that game, then played through the Chiefs' Sunday Night Football meeting with the Seahawks in Week 7. Sunday looked like an aggravation of the same injury. McDowell's moment was only the most visible one. The limp had been there all day.

CBS reporter Tracy Wolfson saw it too in the third quarter. “Travis Kelce has been walking gingerly on and off the field (all game),” Wolfson reported. She added that Kelce made clear the ankle would not stop him from playing. He ended with five catches for 67 yards.

Andy Reid's update and the Chiefs' thin receiver room

Reid did not bring up the ankle at all to open his postgame press conference. “Alright, with the exception of Peter Woods, he had a stinger, there's no other injuries to mention right now,” Reid said. A good sign, though not an all-clear.

The Chiefs need him on the field. Rashee Rice came back after three weeks out with a hamstring injury and caught seven passes for 53 yards and a touchdown.

Backup running back Emmett Johnson, a rookie, added 128 yards and a score on five catches, but that is hard to repeat. Deep threat Tyquan Thornton is out with a dislocated ankle and is unlikely to return before the end of the regular season. The playoffs may come first.

Kansas City is likely to look for a wide receiver before the trade deadline on November 10. It may also reunite with Tyreek Hill, who is still a free agent. No trade is needed, so no clock is running on that one.