An already suspect Chiefs receiving corps was hurt early in Week 1 against the Chargers when Travis Kelce collided with Xavier Worthy, causing the second year wide receiver to leave the game with a shoulder injury.
Travis Kelce admits fault for Chiefs teammate injury: ‘There is no excuse’
Travis Kelce says there’s no bad blood between him and Xavier Worthy, hopes receiver can shake it off.
While it might look like this was simply bad luck, in reality this one truly was on Kelce. This was a mesh route, which involves Kelce and Worthy running past each other on drag routes. The WR was the primary receiver on this route, meaning he is supposed to cross at five yard depth, with Kelce coming from the opposite direction, typically at six yard depth. That said, it’s the responsibility of the player running the over to adjust his route if it appears the under player is pushed off his mark or his depth is incorrect.
In this case Worthy battled with the corner and got slightly off his mark, crossing at six yards and trying to bring it back in to five. Kelce, on the other hand should have seen this happening and adjusted to a seven yard depth. That didn’t happen, and it led to the collision.
This week on the Kelce brothers’ podcast “New Heights” Travis accepted full responsibility for the play.
“I’m supposed to be running my route at depth for Worthy. So, it’s frustrating for me. I was trying to kind of set up my guy to be able to get into position, and it all just happened pretty quick. I just gotta be better, man. I’m 13 years in the league. There is no excuse for me running into my own guys like that...”
Kelce went on the praise Worthy, saying that “speed kills” in the NFL, and with his athleticism and ability he could become the best receiver in the NFL. The veteran went on to admit that being without him is a huge loss, because Worthy is so integral to the offense.
Worthy suffered a dislocated shoulder and has been described by head coach Andy Reid as being “day-to-day.” That phraseology might be a little optimistic, because the current play when Worthy is back is to try and have him play with a shoulder brace, rather than opt for surgery, which would likely end his season.
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