{"id":339065,"date":"2025-09-03T19:07:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T19:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/339065\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T19:07:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T19:07:10","slug":"travis-kelce-decides-against-russell-wilson-playbook-as-chiefs-te-confirms-struggles-before-kickoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/339065\/","title":{"rendered":"Travis Kelce Decides Against Russell Wilson Playbook as Chiefs TE Confirms Struggles Before Kickoff"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the Chiefs<\/a> announced their season opener would take place in Brazil, it wasn\u2019t just the novelty of an international game that had everyone buzzing. For Chiefs TE Travis Kelce, prepping for this landmark showdown against the Chargers<\/a> meant adapting his routine in ways that break from what some might expect. Kelce\u2019s excited for the game, but he won\u2019t be following in anyone\u2019s footsteps, not even a Super Bowl champ like Russell Wilson.<\/a><\/p>\n

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On the latest edition of the\u00a0New Heights\u00a0podcast<\/a>, Jason Kelce tried to share a pointer for the Chiefs\u2019 first international game of the season. \u201cDude, get your Russell Wilson on, get your start doing high knees in the aisle, you know, make sure you\u2019re moving around.\u201d Jason pointed out Russell Wilson\u2019s well-documented ritual of staying physically active and doing exercises during flights to maintain readiness. During an international flight to London for the Broncos\u2019<\/a> matchup against the Jaguars,<\/a> Wilson had worked on his legs for four hours to be in prime shape. But that kind of severe, serious workout doesn\u2019t appeal to Travis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if I\u2019ll be doing that,\u201d Travis Kelce<\/a> responded. \u201cBut I got my Nintendo Switch 2, and I\u2019m going to be Mario golfing.\u201d Instead of channeling Wilson\u2019s rigorous in-flight activity, Kelce prefers a more laid-back approach, focusing on unwinding and light entertainment during travel. While Wilson\u2019s playbook off the field emphasizes physical exertion to keep sharp even in transit, Kelce favors keeping things low-key, perhaps prioritizing rest and mental focus over the physical grind.<\/p>\n

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USA Today via Reuters<\/p>\n

If you think about how the Chiefs previously handled international travel, this move (or no-move) speaks volumes. Their last international game, the 2023 matchup against the Dolphins<\/a> in Frankfurt, Germany, was rich in both challenges and lessons. The Chiefs had to weather a long-haul flight with multiple time zone shifts, and still managed to carve out a 21-14 victory over Miami. Their preparation had leaned heavily on managing the physical toll of the travel. As HC Andy Reid had put it, \u201cIt\u2019s a different time zone by quite a few hours, so you\u2019ve got to make sure that you handle that part and get some rest on the plane. So we take everything into consideration, from hydration on. And then how we practice once we get there.\u201d And Travis seems to be following that same tried and tested Reid blueprint.<\/p>\n

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That Frankfurt game tested the Chiefs\u2019 adaptability and demonstrated how crucial pre-game routines and recovery strategies are for success overseas. It also shows the limits of universal approaches; what works for one player or one trip may not fit another\u2019s regimen. The journey where Wilson worked out<\/a> for 4 hours was an 8-hour flight. But the one the Chiefs will undertake now is notably a 12-hour-long ordeal. And Travis Kelce is already bracing for that challenge.<\/p>\n

Travis Kelce\u2019s time zone and travel struggles for the Brazil game<\/p>\n

As significant as the departure from Wilson\u2019s playbook is, Travis Kelce\u2019s candid admission about travel challenges for the game brings another layer of insight. \u201cWe\u2019re only going two time zones away, but we\u2019re travelling half a day,\u201d Kelce explained. \u201cTypically you would go to London and time it up to where you get in London or you get overseas in Europe and you have a whole day in front of you. So you can sleep on the plane.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike Europe or London trips, where the team gets time to acclimate fully, the Chiefs\u2019 Brazilian itinerary condenses the travel and preparation window. The two-hour drive from the team hotel to the stadium adds a hurdle, evoking memories of extended college football road trips. Kelce detailed the juggling act involved in maintaining a consistent sleep schedule and aligning peak athleticism with game time. \u201cIt\u2019s a whole thing right now of trying to get there and get acclimated without losing the sleep schedule, keeping you in tune with, you know, just the times you\u2019re waking up and the times you\u2019ll be at your peak athleticism throughout the day. So it\u2019s a bit of juggling that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Though Kelce has accepted the schedule, \u201cWe were dealt a hand and you know, we got to play it and it is what it is.\u201d Still, he is excited about the travel and the international game. The Chiefs didn\u2019t get an international matchup last season, and Kelce is wondering what the Brazil crowds will be like. \u201cIt is going to be so much fun, man. And the international games are always a f\u2014\u2014 blast getting to see new fans and how they react to big plays and just how they show up to the game. How they act during the game, whether I\u2019m going to hear chants and stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

The implications of this Brazil game will be significant. How well they adjust to the travel conditions<\/a> could directly impact performance. But on the bright side, the Chiefs, so far, have a 3-0 record for their international games. It\u2019ll be interesting to note if they can add a fourth victory feather to that international cap. The season is almost upon us, and we can hardly wait for the battles to begin. Kelce will be counting down with Mario Golf. What about you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the Chiefs announced their season opener would take place in Brazil, it wasn\u2019t just the novelty of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339066,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2063],"tags":[11977,61418,204,61419,61417,6348,10240,1317,6347,3066,346,3057,21989,21988,12241,3069,7,3072,118,110,2438,2437,21247,10241,22292,6,21246,10242,661,3100,3078,10239,18965,38833,3065,10238,38832,3052,22291,13900,22294,22293,3093,22296,3099,3098,3101,3092],"class_list":{"0":"post-339065","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kansas-city-chiefs","8":"tag-12er","9":"tag-134720965w","10":"tag-204","11":"tag-20250212_zaf_m67_014-jpg","12":"tag-40er","13":"tag-6348","14":"tag-adlern","15":"tag-an","16":"tag-auf","17":"tag-chefs","18":"tag-chiefs","19":"tag-der","20":"tag-ende","21":"tag-eng","22":"tag-februar","23":"tag-feld","24":"tag-football","25":"tag-im","26":"tag-kansas-city","27":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","28":"tag-kansascity","29":"tag-kansascitychiefs","30":"tag-nach","31":"tag-neuen","32":"tag-newspaper","33":"tag-nfl","34":"tag-offroad","35":"tag-orelans","36":"tag-press","37":"tag-presse","38":"tag-quer","39":"tag-schussel","40":"tag-spaziergaenger","41":"tag-sports-fbn-chiefs-kelce-kc-jpg","42":"tag-stadt","43":"tag-statist","44":"tag-verloren","45":"tag-x0x","46":"tag-zeitung","47":"tag-zlast24","48":"tag-zmct","49":"tag-znewspaper","50":"tag-zselect","51":"tag-ztns","52":"tag-zuma","53":"tag-zumaest","54":"tag-zumapress-com","55":"tag-zwire"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}