NFL rumors: Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce making a late push to play

Travis Kelce is going to do everything in his power to play for the Kansas City Chiefs tonight.

With Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season underway, expect for Kansas City Chiefs superstar tight end Travis Kelce to do all that he can to play in the defending Super Bowl champions' season opener.

Kelce is dealing with a lingering knee issue. Although he is listed as questionable, the expectation is that he will test out the injured knee this morning to see where he is at. If that goes well, then he will be out on the Arrowhead Stadium turf in the pregame leading up to Thursday Night Football vs. the Detroit Lions. From there, Kelce and the medical staff will make an assessment if he is good to go.

Yes, he would love to play, but the season is a grind and the Chiefs cannot be without him for too long.

Kickoff from Arrowhead Stadium will be at precisely 8:20 p.m. ET/7:20 p.m. ET on Thursday, Sep. 7.

Kansas City Chiefs rumors: Travis Kelce is going to try to play in Week 1

Not to say the Chiefs' chances of beating an up-and-coming team like Detroit hinge entirely on Kelce's well-being, but not having him out there would put even more of a damper on the depleted Kansas City receiving corps. We will be two years removed since Tyreek Hill last played for them. Keep in mind that Mecole Hardman and JuJu Smith-Schuster now play for teams in the AFC East.

The good news for the Chiefs is the still have Patrick Mahomes as their generational quarterback and Andy Reid as one of the best offensive-minded head coaches in football at any level. Of course, offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy now calls plays in Washington (Hello, Matt Nagy...) and the Chiefs' best defensive player in Chris Jones is still in the midst of a holdout, though he, too, dropped hints that he could still play Thursday. That might take a miracle. Yes, Kelce's warmup is a major talking point.

For now, the Chiefs will just have to make do with what they have got. This is a team that feels like a shoo-in to once again win upwards of 13-to-14 regular-season games. Anything short of an AFC Championship Game appearance will be met with great disappointment by Chiefs Kingdom. Frankly, anything short of a Super Bowl repeat would be seen as underwhelming. Oh, this sport is so hard...

If Kelce is able to do pregame warmups, it may indicate a greater chance that he will end up playing.