KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ Rehabbing from an early March cleanup ankle surgery, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce spent OTAs and minicamp watching his teammates from the sideline.
But he expects that to end once training camp begins next month in St. Joseph.
"I'll be full go by the start of training camp," he told The Star. "I've been running around in the shadows of everyone in terms of media and stuff like that.
"The ankle feels great. For the most part, it's all just waiting and staying along the protocol that was given to us by the doctor that did the surgery. Sure enough, by just following that, it should time with me being 100 percent by the time camp comes around."
For Kelce, not being able to practice has been frustrating.
"Everyone's calling me Coach Kelc or Coach Travis right now." he said. "I hate it. I understand that putting in the work, you're rewarded during the games, during the season. It's something that I've come accustomed to is practicing hard, practicing with a purpose and getting those things together in terms of the timing and everything that you need on the field so I can be accountable during the games.
"This offseason, people may think that it's light and it's minor, but there's a lot of stuff going in and we have a lot of new faces and I just want to get out there and mesh with everyone and have fun. It's not the funnest time trying to coach some guys up. I'd much rather be playing."
Though he wasn't able to practice, Kelce will be up and on his feet Saturday night at Bar K in Kansas City for the grand opening of the Seresto Stage.
He'll judge a touchdown dance for dogs and their owners from 6-6:30 p.m. The dance-off is part of an all-day kickoff at the Union Berkley Riverfront off-leash dog park, bar and restaurant.
Known for his own exuberant celebrations, Kelce will do a little something with his dogs, a two-year-old Pomski named Chauncey and an almost one-year-old named Rambo, to give dogs and their owners an example before he begins judging the competition.
His ankle, though, might limit his dancing abilities a bit.
"Maybe not all the moves, but I'll be able to put something together, at least show everyone how this contest should work," he said. "I'll leave all the creativity of everyone and their pups to bring the energy and the excitement, but I'll probably bust a few moves to make sure everybody understands the type of energy they need to bring."
