Ranking KC Chiefs biggest injury concerns heading into Super Bowl LVII
By Matt Conner
2. Travis Kelce
Speaking of future Hall of Fame players, we might as well go with the 1A choice, so to speak, and get right to tight end Travis Kelce.
We’ve now learned that Travis Kelce suffered the back injury that almost kept him out of the conference championship at the eleventh hour—just at the very end of Kansas City’s final practice of the week on Friday. It was then, just 48-72 hours before the game, that his back locked up and forced him to seek medical attention all weekend long.
Shortly before the Chiefs took the field against the visiting Bengals on Sunday, K.C.’s coaches still didn’t know if Kelce was going to play or not given the state of his back spasms. While he ended up playing through it and delivered a solid effort to move to the Super Bowl, fans have to wonder whether or not back pain and problems for a player ready to play his 20th game of the season in his mid-thirties will present themselves again.
The ray of light here is that Kelce is no longer even on the Chiefs injury report after claiming the Lamar Hunt Trophy. That means Kelce is feeling good again and the back pain has subsided. At the same time, no one would have predicted Kelce to appear on last week’s injury report until it happened. Chiefs fans can only hope that Kelce remains healthy for the biggest game of the season.