He's done a lot for the Kansas City Chiefs in his brief NFL career. Even Patrick Mahomes can only say so much when it comes to teammate Chris Jones.
The Kansas City Chiefs are looking to do something in 2023 that hasn't been done in nearly two decades. You have to go back to 2003 (XXXVIII) and 2004 (XXXIX) to find the last time that a team repeated as Super Bowl champions. That would be Bill Belichick's New England Patriots, who bested the Carolina Panthers at Houston and Andy Reid's Philadelphia Eagles at Jacksonville, respectively.
Speaking of the head coach of the Chiefs, he's led the club to three of the past four Super Bowls. For the second time during his tenure, the team is looking to repeat. It didn't go so well the first time. Kansas City was humbled by Tampa Bay, 31-9, in Super Bowl LV. Patrick Mahomes took a beating that day without his two veteran starting tackles.
You need all hands on deck. Right now, the Chiefs are without their best defensive player due to a holdout. Mahomes seems to have all the answers on the field, but this is certainly a different matter.
"I talk to Chris (Jones)," explained Mahomes (via Logan Lazarczyk of ChiefsWire.com). "Not necessarily about contract stuff—that's how I am about all things—I never talk about the contract. I just talk about football and how he is doing.
"He is working out, he is staying in shape. All that (contract negotiations) will handle itself, and all I can do is be supportive, be a (good) teammate. That's one of the guys (who has) been a staple of this organization for a long time. Hopefully, we get him back in camp as soon as possible."
Defensive tackle Chris Jones, named to four consecutive Pro Bowls, comes off his first All-Pro season. He started every game in 2022, finished with a personal-best 44 tackles and tied a career-high with 15.5 sacks. He also sacked Bengals' quarterback Joe Burrow in the AFC title game win over Cincinnati.
There have already been a few changes to Kansas City's defensive front in terms of additions and subtractions. However, Jones' absence would certainly be a huge loss. Then again, September 7 is still more than a month away.