Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce says he can be better this year, and the Chiefs must be better this year.
In 2025, the Chiefs were perhaps the most disappointing team in the NFL, finishing 6-11. Kelce led the team with 76 catches for 851 yards, but he said he needs to do more as a team leader.
“Just being a better leader,” Kelce said. “When we get stuck, with adversity hitting, who’s going to want you in that foxhole with you? That’s one of those things, I want to be one of those guys that everybody counts on to be there and get us out of that foxhole.”
The Chiefs need players and coaches holding each other to high standards, and Kelce said offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is one of the best at doing that. But Kelce said he’ll do it too.
“There were things I could have done better in that regard,” Kelce admitted.
Kelce said missing the playoffs has players motivated to turn things around.
“Everybody feels everything’s got to get turned up a little bit, and that’s what you’re seeing right now,” Kelce said.
The Chiefs are going through a hard training camp, and Kelce embraces that.
“I feel ready to rock and roll,” Kelce said. “Just trying to make sure I set that example for the guys around me, that this is the standard.”
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Travis Kelce’s wedding to Taylor Swift in July was the celebrity social event of the summer, as the couple assembled guests at Madison Square Garden in New York for the occasion.
Speaking to the media for the first time at this summer’s training camp on Wednesday, Kelce reflected on the special occasion.
“Wedding was the best night of my life. I appreciate everybody who came out and celebrated and had fun with us. That’s about all I really got from that night,” Kelce said, via Jesse Newell of TheAthletic.com. “It was a crazy night. It was full of a lot of celebration. But [now] it’s football, baby.”
Kelce, who will turn 37 in early October, is heading into his 14th pro season. The four-time, AP first-team All-Pro told reporters his body feels good as he goes through training camp, noting he’s physically “ready to rock and roll” in 2026.
“I still got a lot of love for this game,” he said. “I still think I can go out and play at a high level, and I want to go out there and prove to myself that I can play at a better level than I did last year. And I think that’s probably the biggest thing for me is making sure that I’m accountable for the guys in this room every single play that I’m out there.”
Kelce started all 17 games for the Chiefs last season, catching 76 passes for 851 yards with five touchdowns.
Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice had an unexpected 30-day offseason jail stint, due to a positive THC test while on probation for felony charges arising from a 2024 street-racing incident.
The timing, which is never really ideal, became especially problematic because it kept Rice away from the team during the offseason program. At first, he was unable to engage in rehab after a recent knee surgery. (He later got permission to leave the jail for the treatment he needed.)
He spoke to reporters on Tuesday for the first time since his incarceration.
“It was a learning experience and a reality check,” Rice said, via Nate Taylor of ESPN. “Don’t focus on the past. Focus on what’s going on now. I’m doing [well] mentally.
“It was mentally tough. They gave me ways to communicate with my teammates still and as well as my athletic trainer. Besides the hard times in there, I kept my mind right watching shows and as much Kevin Hart as I could to laugh.”
There’s nothing to laugh about now when it comes to Rice’s NFL career. It’s a pivotal season, the last one of his rookie contract. He’ll make a mere $1.56 million, and the Chiefs have shown no inclination to sign him to a new contract.
He got off to a great start as a rookie in 2023. Appearing in 16 games with eight starts — and taking only 58 percent of the snaps in the games he played — Rice still generated 938 receiving yards. He learned the offense faster than Tyreek Hill did.
By the playoffs of Rice’s first year, it was clicking. He had 262 receiving yards on 26 catches in four postseason games.
Then came the high-speed misadventures in Dallas. Then came the regular season, with a Week 4 knee injury that wiped out the rest of his second season. Last year started with a six-game suspension.
This year begins with a largely clean slate. He now needs to show what he can do, in order to get the contract he thought he’d have by now.
There’s no guarantee he’ll get it. With the franchise tag for receivers well below the current market, the Chiefs may decide to use the device to hold him in place for 2027 before making a long-term commitment. It would give them two full years to see whether he truly has learned the lessons flowing from the off-field misconduct.
As of Friday, Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy was watching live streams of practice as his wife, Mia, continues to recover from a recent shooting. As of Monday, Eric Bieniemy is back at training camp.
Via Jesse Newell of The Athletic, Bieniemy is at practice today.
The development suggests that Mia Bieniemy continues to improve, to the point that he could leave their home in Virginia. Which is very good news.
It’s also good news for the Chiefs. Bieniemy’s return to the team has provided a spark of accountability to the offense, with a fresh focus on fundamentals.
The shooting happened on Sunday, July 26. Their son, Elijah, stands accused of committing the crime.
The Chiefs open the preseason on Saturday against the Rams.
Two weeks into 2026 training camp, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is moving closer to being ready to go five weeks from Monday night.
He continues to recover from a December 14 tear of the ACL and LCL in his left knee.
“It feels great,” Mahomes said Friday, via Nate Taylor of ESPN. “When you’re tired sometimes, you don’t even think about [the knee]. I’m trying to protect it, but at the same time trying to push it and get myself ready to go for the season.”
He’s balancing getting himself ready with keeping his knee healthy.
“I try to be smart, but there’s just sometimes where, in camp, you’re trying to compete and practices are long,” Mahomes said. “I mean, you want to win the rep. There’s times where I do forget about it and just play football.”
That happened on Friday, during a fourth down in 11-on-11 drills. He scrambled toward the right sideline before cutting back and throwing an underhand lateral that became a fumble recovered by the defense.
“I’m trying to hold myself back because I’m just a competitor,” Mahomes said. “I like competing. All of a sudden, I’m running and cutting back and trying to pitch the ball. But when it’s fourth down, you want to try to make a play happen.
“I’m not going to lose who I am, but I’m going to try to keep myself smart and keep myself in position to be out there for my teammates.”
The biggest question when Week 1 rolls around is whether Mahomes will be able to play like he always has. Far from a classic pocket quarterback, Mahomes runs left and right and left and right and buys time before firing a pass to an open receiver. Those movements and cuts will put stress on the knee.
Having running back Kenneth Walker III on the team may result in more running plays for the Chiefs’ offense. Still, when it’s time to pass, Mahomes will apparently forget about the knee and focus on the sticks.
Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is staying involved with the team while continuing to support his wife, Mia Bieniemy, as she recovers from a shooting.
“Mia continues to improve,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said today. “We’re heading in the right direction and we’ll just see when he gets back, he gets back here. He’s champing at the bit and Mia is probably wanting to get him out of there too.”
Bieniemy is remaining involved with the team. According to the Kansas City Star, he is watching live streams of training camp practices and calling Reid when he sees something that needs to be addressed.
Elijah Bieniemy, Eric and Mia’s son, is accused of shooting his mother in the family home. He is charged with malicious wounding, use of a firearm in commission of a felony, and discharge of a firearm inside a dwelling. Elijah Bieniemy’s attorney told a judge that Elijah “appears to suffer from significant mental health issues” and “does not appear able to assist in his own defense at the present time.”
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has not shied away from playing quarterback Patrick Mahomes in past preseasons, but Mahomes is coming off a torn ACL this summer and it sounds like Reid has a different approach in mind.
The Chiefs will play their first preseason game against the Rams a week from Saturday and Reid said at a Friday press conference that he is not inclined to play Mahomes in that game. Reid went on to say that he doesn’t know if Mahomes will see any game action before the Chiefs host the Broncos on the first Monday night of the regular season.
“There’s a pretty good chance I don’t play him [against the Rams],” Reid said. “Percentages are leaning that way. I don’t know if I’ll play him the second or third game, I don’t know that, but the percentages likely lean against doing that. We’ve got new people in those other positions behind him that need some work, and so the more reps they get, the better.”
Justin Fields, Garrett Nussmeier and Chris Oladokun are the other Chiefs quarterbacks. Fields and Nussmeier are both new to the team this season.
Reid and the Chiefs got to experience life without Mahomes last year and no one in Kansas City will have an appetite for risking a repeat of that in a game that doesn’t factor into the standings. Final answers on the team’s plans will come in the next couple of weeks, but it doesn’t sound like anyone should expect to see No. 15 until September.
Justin Fields has been a starting quarterback for most of his NFL career, but when he was traded to the Chiefs this offseason, he knew he was going to Kansas City to back up Patrick Mahomes. And he says that’s been a valuable experience for him.
Fields said at Chiefs training camp that Mahomes has been coaching him on the Chiefs’ offense and explaining concepts that Fields previously hasn’t learned.
“Any question that I have, he’s been in this offense for 10 years now so he knows every little detail,” Fields said of Mahomes. “Any questions that have popped up, he’s explaining to me perfectly. It’s great learning from him, him showing me the ropes.”
Fields says he’s growing as a quarterback in the unfamiliar position of backup to a future Hall of Famer.
“I’m just trying to expand my horizon, do things I’ve never done before, the amount of concepts, the amount of actions, the amount of stuff we have in the offense,” Fields said. “I’m just trying to practice on that, and really emulate Pat.”
Chiefs rookie wide receiver Cyrus Allen’s hot start to training camp was interrupted by a shin injury last weekend, but Allen’s time away from the field came to an end on Friday.
Allen suited up for practice on Friday for the first time since he was carted off the field during practice last Saturday. Video from Friday’s session shows the fifth-round pick catching passes from Patrick Mahomes during drills.
Allen had been doing well enough in that role to earn time with the first team before his injury and the Chiefs will be hoping he can pick up right where he left off.
Xavier Worthy injured his shoulder on the same day that Allen went down, but the third-year wideout remains on the sideline for the time being.
More details have recently emerged regarding the July 26 shooting of Mia Bieniemy, the wife of Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
The Athletic reports that, two days before the shooting, Elijah Bieniemy apparently called police to complain that his parents were withholding his firearms from him.
Based on documents obtained by The Athletic via a public records request, a 27-year-old man calling from the Bieniemy address told authorities that “his parents are withholding his weapons and that he’s a certified UFC fighter so now he feels like he cannot defend himself.” The report containing the information did not include the name of the caller.
Per the report, the caller “kept rambling on about also having his [CPR] license and what if he cannot help.”
He also told police that “his parents told him he must give them his firearms if he wants to keep living in the home — and that he could have them back when he needed them.” He said his parents “refuse to give his firearms back when he tries to go to the range to use them.”
Elijah Bieniemy is accused of shooting his mother, Mia Bieniemy. He is charged with malicious wounding, use of a firearm in commission of a felony, and discharge of a firearm inside a dwelling.
A judge recently granted a request from Elijah Bieniemy’s public defender for a mental evaluation, arguing that Elijah Bieniemy “appears to suffer from significant mental health issues” and “does not appear able to assist in his own defense at the present time.”
Mia Bieniemy was transferred out of intensive care last week, as she continues to improve following the shooting.
