Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce watches a drill at training camp Tuesday in St. Joseph, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — It’s easy to see Travis Kelce making plays on the practice fields of Missouri Western State University these days, whether they be those highlight-reel catches, deft maneuvers in the open field or, yes, the occasional pancake block on a running play.

The thing is that there is less of the Chiefs tight end to see.

Kelce won’t exactly cop to it — leave that to Chiefs coach Andy Reid, who called him “svelte” — but the four-time All-Pro trimmed down considerably since the end of last season, when he was last seen walking dejectedly off the turf at the Superdome in New Orleans, the Chiefs having been dismantled by the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl.

The sting of the loss probably had a lot to do with his offseason work.

You see, some questioned whether the 40-22 defeat might drive the nearly 36-year-old Kelce into retirement, especially given the number of off-the-field pursuits vying for his time. There’s the TV shows and films, including the new “Happy Gilmore” flick, along with his popular podcast and his celebrity girlfriend, the pop superstar Taylor Swift.

Yet instead of calling it quits, Kelce seemed to redouble his efforts. He used the “New Heights” podcast with his brother, retired Eagles center Jason Kelce, to quickly make it clear that he wasn’t going anywhere. Then, apparently, he locked himself in the gym and went to work, trimming down to the kind of shape Kelce was in earlier in his career.

“He’s svelte right now. He looks like he’s 20,” Reid opined. “He’s doing a nice job. He’s worked hard to get to this spot here.”

And avoid the spot he found himself in last year.

By almost any measure, the season Kelce had would have been deemed a success. He appeared in 16 regular-season games, caught 97 passes for 823 yards and three scores, and stepped back into a go-to role for the offense when the Chiefs lost wide receivers Marquise Brown and Rashee Rice to injuries for nearly the entire season.