Chiefs' Andy Reid Happy To Play 'Bad Guy' For Travis Kelce

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Adam Schultz | Last updated Jun 19, 2025 10:02 PM ET

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is in the twilight of his career as he enters Year 13, and yet another offseason.

But one thing we know about Travis is that he is all gas, no brakes when it comes to practicing, especially in the offseason. One could envision the Chiefs' coaching staff keeping a close eye on the veteran, given his desire to push himself to the limit.

After all, we are only in June, and the franchise doesn't want Kelce breaking down at this stage of the offseason, so sometimes that means telling him to cool his jets at practice.

Granted, not just anyone can pull Kelce up; that's Andy Reid's job.

“I always watch him, I always keep an eye on him,” Reid said. “I know he's getting older, he doesn't know he's getting older, but I can be the bad guy in some cases there if needed. But if I think it's catching up to him a little bit, I'll pull off and put him where he needs to be. But he hasn't shown me any of that yet, he's done really well.”

So there is a delicate balancing act the Chiefs and Reid must perform with their star tight end.

Allow him to get in the necessary work, but also not overload him, and given Kelce is coming off his worst statistical season since his rookie year, you can imagine he will be quite motivated to get things rolling in a positive direction.

But there has to be a give and take with how much is on Travis' plate, and we know he wants it all day, every day; however, at his age, any injury could be disastrous. Hence, the need to pull Kelce back at times.

Luckily, the Chiefs have Reid to play that bad guy.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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