The Kansas City Chiefs will officially start their title defense on Thursday when Patrick Mahomes and company host the Detroit Lions at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in what will be a game that the entire football world tunes into as it will begin the 2023 NFL season.
Unfortunately for the defending Super Bowl champions, the Chiefs will likely not be at full strength heading into this season opener against the Lions, with superstar tight end Travis Kelce suffering a knee injury this week, which has put his status for Thursday’s game in doubt.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, however, Kelce’s injury may not be a long-term problem, which is obviously good news for the Chiefs.
#Chiefs star TE Travis Kelce’s status is in doubt for Thursday night’s opener vs. the #Lions because of his knee injury, but sources tell me and @TomPelissero it’s not believed to be a long-term injury. They’ll wait for swelling to go down and go from there. pic.twitter.com/pzuOYz2wt2
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 5, 2023
Even though losing Kelce even for one game is a devastating blow for the Chiefs offense, Mahomes has shown what he can do when one of his go-to guys goes down or is no longer with the team.
After the Chiefs traded superstar wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins before last season, the consensus was Kansas City wouldn’t be the same on offense, but that didn’t turn out to be the case.
The Chiefs have proven they can get by and succeed without some of their star players, and they may have to do that in Week 1, especially if All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones continues his holdout.
It will be a tough stretch right out of the gate for the defending champions as they’ll have to figure out how to get the best of a hungry Lions team while shorthanded.
NEXT: Fans React To Today's Travis Kelce News
