Tipping your hand at what you might actually say when trash talking is probably not the best strategy.
But Falcons safety Jessie Bates is doing it anyway ahead of the team’s “Sunday Night Football” showdown against the defending Super Bowl Champion Chiefs.
Bates said everything is on the table, and it might involve Kelce’s high-profile girlfriend Taylor Swift.
“I don’t listen to much Taylor Swift, but obviously you got to have respect for what she’s done in her career. And then with Travis [Kelce], you got to have some type of respect with him,” Bates said, smiling, while a guest on “The Pacman Jones Show” — hosted by ex-NFL cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones — this week.
“But once that clock ticks and we’re in between those lines. I see red sometimes and might say some crazy stuff to him, it may involve Taylor, in may not. It’s just part of the game, talking your little smack.”
Bates is just giving the game away, so the trash talk might not be very effective, especially considering Kelce’s probably heard it all to this point.
It has been slow goings for Kelce in 2024, with just four catches for 39 yards in two games, though the Chiefs have come out victorious in both.
Nevertheless, Kelce said the mediocre stats haven’t frustrated him, but he’s aware of his slow start.
“I used to get really, really pissed off and almost lose my cool a lot of the time from not having that success knowing that I demand that out of myself and I just like to play the game to such a high level of accountability that it’s just tough for me to deal with being mediocre or having stats that represent that,” Kelce said on his and brother Jason Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast Wednesday.