Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has weighed in on the backlash Travis Kelce has suffered this season.
The tight end, 35, endured a slow start to the season after a whirlwind offseason traveling the world with his pop superstar girlfriend Taylor Swift, 34.
Kelce struggled through the first few games of the season, making just eight catches through the opening three matchups as the Chiefs chase a historic Super Bowl three-peat.
The slump sparked criticism from analysts and fans alike, with many pointing to his hectic offseason and high-profile personal life with the songstress as a potential reason for his on-field decline.
However, Spagnuolo insisted the Chiefs block out the noise as they have no concerns about their star or his new celebrity lifestyle.
Steve Spagnuolo (R) has weighed in on the backlash Travis Kelce (L) has suffered this season
‘I don’t hear it. I don’t feel it,’ the 64-year-old coach said of the criticism directed at Kelce during an appearance on the Dan Le Batard Show this week.
‘I’m not flipping through the phone looking at that stuff. So I don’t really hear it.’
‘We don’t worry about Travis,’ he added. ‘There’s some guys in all of these professional sports that you know when you’re gonna need them the most they’re going to show up, and that’s Travis.’
Kelce has since bounced back from his stuttering start, hauling in 16 catches for 159 yards in his last two games to help the Chiefs go 5-0.
His comeback hasn’t been without flair either as it featured an underhanded lateral to Samaje Perine in Kansas City’s 26-13 win against the New Orleans Saints earlier this month.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes jokingly compared giving Kelce instructions to speaking to his three-year-old daughter Sterling following the game but Spagnuolo claimed the lateral wasn’t such a surprise.
‘He plays around with it in practice and you’ll see him do it all the time,’ the coach said. ‘So it’s not like it hasn’t been rehearsed before. I don’t think it shocks his teammates when he’s looking to do that.
The tight end suffered a slow start to the season after a hectic offseason with Taylor Swift
The ‘Fortnight’ songstress is a regular feature at the tight end’s Chiefs games
‘You have to have extreme self-confidence, which Travis does, to do something like that.’
In addition to their action-packed summer, Kelce and Swift have enjoyed a busy personal life, regularly hitting the town for romantic nights out in New York City – including a double date with the singer’s BFF Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds last week.
They have also swapped the football field for other sporting venues, catching the New York Yankees in playoff action this week as well as putting on a PDA-packed display at the US Open men’s final last month.
The criticism reportedly led to Swift opting to skip the Chiefs’ game against the Chargers in Los Angeles last month, in an attempt to take the heat and the headlines off her NFL beau.
