After coughing up the football four times in his first full year with the Chiefs, Travis Kelce made a concerted effort to be less careless with the pigskin. It’s appears that he still harbors that insecurity five years later, evident in his sideline confrontation with Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy during the first half of the team’s 19-13 loss to the Colts.
During a sideline discussion following a Kelce overturned fumble call, the tight end, who posted a forgettable 4-of-10 targets for 70 yards, shoved Bieniemy before teammates separated the two men.
Shortly after, Kelce begrudgingly hugged Bieniemy in an apologetic gesture, and it looks like Bieniemy wanted none of it.
— TPS (@TPS_Youtube) October 7, 2019
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) October 7, 2019
According to The Athletic’s Nate Taylor, the genesis of the fight was rooted in Bieniemy scolding Kelce for failing to secure a ball that nearly resulted in a turnover.
“NBC cameras caught a heated discussion between Travis Kelce & offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. It appears that Bieniemy’s message to Kelce was to hold onto the ball. Bieniemy probably used harsher words.”
Here is the play in question (second video).
— Mitchel Summers (@WIBWMitchel) October 7, 2019
Kelce was likely frustrated over an uncharacteristically sluggish performance, dropping the ball twice in the early going and posting a season-low 70 yards receiving in a surprising loss to a meh Colts team.
It seems Chiefs fans weren’t happy either.
— Shaq (Infinity-Gazillion) (@AtomicDawg5150) October 7, 2019
— Mick Shaffer (@mickshaffer) October 7, 2019
— Brett 👻 (@DrunkenDonuts_) October 7, 2019
— Andrew Shepard (@The_Shep_) October 7, 2019
— Jamey Cassady (@JameyCassady1) October 7, 2019
Rumor has it that Bieniemy tried calling Kelce to bury the hatchet but the tight end dropped the call. Boom roasted.
