Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid defended Travis Kelce’s “passion” after a heated exchange with his veteran tight end during Sunday night’s win over the New York Giants. 

Kelce and Reid were seen shouting at each other on the sideline during the second quarter of Kansas City’s 22-9 victory, which marked their first of the NFL season after a 0-2 start. Reid had also bumped his player’s shoulder amid another stuttering performance for a team that has reached five of the last six Super Bowls.

The exchange arrived a week after Kelce slammed his helmet and yelled at Reid during his side’s 20-17 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in a rematch of February’s Super Bowl.

Speaking after the game, Reid played down the incident.

“Don’t make too much of it. He’s a passionate guy and I love that part. I’ve been through a lot of things with him so that’s all part of it. I love that he loves to play the game. That’s what I love. It’s an emotional game, so I’ll take it,” Reid said.

“I love Travis’ passion, so I’m OK with that. We didn’t have enough of it in the second quarter, we weren’t where we needed to be.

“He knows when to back off the pedal and he knows when to push it too. That’s part of what I love about him. The guy’s all-in. Just sometimes I have to be the policeman,” Reid said. “He was all-in. Listen, he’s an emotional guy. He’s Irish.”

The exchange between Reid and Kelce took place with the Chiefs leading 6-0 but having failed to capitalise on Chris Roland-Wallace’s interception of Russell Wilson. The ensuing drive ended in Harrison Butker missing a 40-yard field goal in the latest sequence to underline Kansas City’s offensive struggles at the start of the season.

It has been an imperfect start to the campaign for Kelce, who injured team-mate Xavier Worthy during a mid-route collision in their Week One defeat to the Los Angeles Chargers before fumbling a goalline catch that turned into an interception against the Eagles in Week Two.

Kelce finished the night with four catches for 26 yards and has just 10 catches for 134 yards and a touchdown on the year having come off a career-low 823 yards in 2024.

“He’s a guy that loves it,” said Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes after the game. “That’s what’s made him so great. I know [Reid and Kelce] love each other. That’s what you want out of the greats.”

Tyquan Thornton and Kareem Hunt scored touchdowns while the Chiefs picked off Wilson twice to clinch their first win of the season, avoiding slipping to 0-3 for the first time since 2011.

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