The Chiefs had nothing to play for in Week 18, so that they rested a number of of their key gamers, together with Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.
The tight finish had been anticipated to play to get the 16 yards he wanted for 1,000 yards for the season.
As a substitute, Kelce was inactive.
Coach Andy Reid revealed Tuesday that the crew let Kelce make the choice whether or not to proceed his streak of 1,000-yard seasons or not.
“He’s a humble, humble guy,” Reid mentioned, through Ed Easton of USA Right now. “It’s completely different due to the monetary a part of it, with Chris [Jones]. [Kelce] didn’t wish to be egocentric or come throughout as egocentric. All of the gamers need him to play, however he simply goes, ‘You already know what? I don’t like the way in which it feels.’ He’s not into that. He selected to not play, and I fully perceive it. However that’s him. Most guys would have gone out and possibly executed it, however he mentioned, ‘I’ve acquired quite a lot of information on this one right here; I’m not going to do it this fashion.’”
Kelce completed the common season with 984 yards receiving, the primary time since 2015 he fell wanting 1,000 yards.
Mahomes lauded his teammate for his selflessness in the course of the quarterback’s weekly look on 610 Sports activities Radio.
“That speaks to the kind of teammate that he’s,” Mahomes mentioned. “In all honesty, I used to be trying to force him to play, like I used to be attempting to make him go on the market as a result of I knew he was going to strive to not play, and he wished to be concerning the crew and never about him. I used to be attempting to drive him all the way in which up till recreation time, after which he mentioned, ‘No, that’s not who I’m. I don’t wish to play for these causes. I wish to get myself wholesome and prepared for the playoffs.’
“A number of guys would have executed that and went on the market and did it, and there’s no slight in the direction of them. However the kind of teammate Travis is, he couldn’t do this as a result of he knew it wasn’t about him; it was concerning the crew.”
Defensive lineman Chris Jones performed 46 snaps to get a sack, giving him 10.5 on the season and a $1.25 million incentive in his contract. Kelce, although, had no financial incentive.
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