Chiefs’ Travis Kelce ‘game-time decision’ against Lions, Kansas City’s CEO says

The Kansas City Chiefs open the 2023 NFL season Thursday night against the Detroit Lions as they begin their title defense. 

They may be doing so without their four-time All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce after he suffered a hyperextended knee during Tuesday’s practice.  

Kansas City listed Kelce as questionable on Wednesday while Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark said he would be a game-time decision. 

PATRIOTS’ MAC JONES LAUDS TOM BRADY’S MENTORSHIP: ‘HE’S ACTUALLY HELPED ME A LOT’

“I’ve never seen Travis as energized as I have this offseason. He’s been really dialed in. He’s been really busy off the field. Had a lot of things going on. But he’s also very focused on football, very excited about the upcoming season,” Hunt said Thursday on “Good Morning Football.” 

“I know we had a little bit of a setback the other day with a minor knee injury. We hope that he will be able to go tonight. He will be a game-time decision. But he’s somebody who loves to compete, so I wouldn’t bet against him being on the field tonight.”

Kelce’s brother, Jason Kelce, said Wednesday that Kelce was experiencing some swelling in his knee. 

“Talked to him yesterday and I’ve done the same thing. You just plant, or you do something, and your knee hyperextends,” Jason Kelce said Wednesday on the WIP Morning Show.

“I know he’s got some swelling going on, but it sounds like as long as they can keep that down, he’s gonna have a chance to go. The ligaments and everything are intact. Structurally, from what we know right now, his knee is fine. So, it’s really about getting that swelling down and seeing how bruised that bone is.”

Kelce is coming off one his best seasons as a pro, ending the season with 110 receptions for 1,228 yards and 12 touchdowns. 

Detroit is entering the season with high expectations after going 9-8 in 2022 following a 1-6 start. 

“The last two years, we haven’t started quick,” quarterback Jared Goff said. “There’s a little bit of an increased awareness of it, I think, making sure that we don’t dig ourselves in a hole. But the same time, we’re trying to win every game.”

Kansas City and Detroit kick off at 8:20 p.m. ET.