Jason Kelce backs Nick Sirianni’s plan, Travis Kelce weighs retirement, and more from ‘New Heights’
From the Eagles' upcoming wild-card game against the 49ers to a possible retirement for future Hall of Famer Travis Kelce, here's what you missed on "New Heights" this week.
Wild-card weekend is on the horizon, and a crucial contest awaits the Eagles as they prepare to host the San Francisco 49ers at Lincoln Financial Field Sunday.
After succumbing to the Washington Commanders, 24-17, in their regular-season finale, the Eagles (11-6) received the NFC’s No. 3 seed. The sixth-seeded 49ers (12-5) are coming off a 14-3 loss to the top-seeded Seattle Seahawks. As a result, an NFC playoff rivalry between San Francisco and Philadelphia will reignite.
On the latest episode of New Heights, former Eagles center Jason Kelce expressed his optimism surrounding the Birds’ upcoming matchup. Meanwhile, Travis Kelce addressed the question of whether he will return for another season with the Kansas City Chiefs, or join his brother in retirement.
Resting up
The Eagles elected to give most of their starters a break in Week 18, but suffered a disappointing loss to the Commanders with mostly backups on the field.
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Jason Kelce defended Nick Sirianni’s decision to rest his starters, despite the Eagles missing the opportunity to enter the playoffs as a No. 2 seed. Detroit’s win over Chicago, along with an Eagles victory last week, would have improved Philadelphia’s standing.
“To be honest with you, I felt pretty confident that the Eagles backups would beat the Commanders, and I think that they should’ve,” Kelce said. “They didn’t finish the game well. They started off pretty good. … But it looks bad in hindsight. Because of the Chicago loss, we got the egg on our face because we didn’t play our starters, and we could’ve had the two seed, most likely.”
Drawing from his own experience, Kelce emphasized the advantage of having a well-rested squad to face the 49ers, who are a bit banged up after playing their starters in Week 18. The Eagles’ 2023 season, Kelce’s last before retirement, ended with the battered Birds suffering a 32-9 defeat to Tampa Bay in the wild-card round.
“The last time we played our guys in a game like this [in 2023], it ended up costing us some meaningful people,” Kelce said. “At this point in the season, when you have the opportunity to avoid somebody getting hurt, and you don’t know for certain that playing guys is going to help you, I don’t know that it benefits you that much. At the end of the day, you still have to go through good teams to win the Super Bowl. … Now, we get a week of rest. Our whole offensive line has been so banged up, and a lot of those guys got the opportunity to get healthier.”
» READ MORE: Former coach, others rip Nick Sirianni’s decision to rest Eagles’ starters: ‘Makes no sense’
In the end, Kelce doesn’t believe the fate of this year’s Eagles will come down to whether or not they beat the Commanders, even if the loss did potentially cost them an extra home playoff game.
“I don’t think that the Week 18 [loss] is going to determine the outcome of this team,” Kelce said. “When we play up to our potential, with the defense we have and the offensive firepower we have, I think we can beat anybody.”
Travis shares postseason thoughts
Also on Wednesday’s episode, Travis Kelce admitted to ending the 2025 campaign with an “embarrassing feeling” as the Chiefs failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
But it was far from a lackluster season for the Kansas City tight end on an individual scale. Jason congratulated his brother for putting his name into NFL record books, including becoming only the third tight end to surpass 13,000 career receiving yards.
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When it came to whether he will retire, Travis, 36, said that he had not yet made up his mind.
“I’ve talked to a few people in the [Chiefs] facility already in my exit meetings, and they know where I stand now,” the younger Kelce brother said. “There’s a lot of love for the game, and I don’t think I’ll ever lose that. It’s a tough thing to navigate. But at the same time, if my body can heal up and rest up, and I can feel confident that I can go out there and give it another 21-week run — I would do it in a heartbeat.
“So right now, it’s just finding that answer, and seeing how my body feels after this game, when it all settles down.”