Travis Kelce vows to avoid viral moment amid slow start

Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce went viral during the club's Super Bowl LVIII win this past February for the way he confronted head coach Andy Reid on the sideline after Kelce was not on the field for a red-zone play that resulted in a Kansas City turnover. 

Kelce recorded only four receptions for 39 yards across Kansas City's first two contests this season but insisted during the latest episode of his "New Heights" podcast he won't be responsible for another in-game outburst anytime soon. 

"I'm not going to sit here and get frustrated about it," Kelce said about his lack of production, as shared by Adam Teicher of ESPN. "I used to get really, really p----- off and almost lose my cool a lot of the time for not having that success, knowing that I demand that out of myself. ...Moving forward, it's just, 'How can I be better in those moments? What's the issue? Am I not getting out into my routes fast enough?'"

While Kelce revealed shortly after he became a three-time Super Bowl champion that he and Reid "kind of chuckled about" the much-discussed moment from Kansas City's victory over the San Francisco 49ers, the 34-year-old also acknowledged that his actions that night were "definitely unacceptable." Since then, Kelce has suggested he wants to pursue "a couple more Super Bowl" rings rather than individual accomplishments before he calls time on his remarkable career. 

"I stopped caring about stats about four or five years ago and just went out there and played free and wanted to play for my guys and, sure enough, I think that’s the better mentality," Kelce added, per Matt Ehalt of the New York Post. 

Kelce may be the greatest pass-catching tight end in NFL history, and he accumulated over 1,000 receiving yards each season from 2016-22 before he finished last season with 984 yards after he sat out Kansas City's Week 18 game because he didn't want "to go out there chasing stats." He likely assumes it's only a matter of time before he and quarterback Patrick Mahomes begin clicking once more, perhaps as soon as this Sunday night at the 1-1 Atlanta Falcons. 

As of Wednesday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the 2-0 Chiefs as 3.5-point favorites against the Falcons.