Allen Park — If there was any truth serum around, Lions coaches and players would probably tell you that they hope the holdout of Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones drags on for just one more week.
But since the team didn’t appear to have any on hand, they instead argued it doesn’t change things all that much.
“He jumps off the tape right away. I mean, you feel him out there when you watch their tape from last year, so…if he’s playing, we have to account for him each and every play,” offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said.
“But in terms of how we’re approaching this game, I don’t think it’s going to change how we’re going about business right now. I think early, going into a game preparation week right now, we feel really good about where we’re at in our process and we’ll continue to dive through the tape and come up with some good thoughts.”
Jones, a four-time Pro Bowler and two-time Super Bowl champion, was placed on the Reserve/Did Not Report list Tuesday after failing to report by the 53-man roster deadline. With one year remaining on a four-year, $80 million contract that kicked in at the start of the 2020 season, it’s reported he’s in search of a new contract that will pay him around $30 million annually.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell told 97.1 The Ticket on Friday he wasn’t keeping an eye on Jones’ status.
“It doesn’t matter. He’s either there or he’s not. And if he is, he plays 15 plays, they’re all on third down and we’ll be ready. Otherwise he’s not there and we just keep going. That’s out of our control,” Campbell said.
“They’ve got more than one guy on defense over there. This is a fast unit on defense. They’ve played together a number of years. … They’ll bring a lot of different looks, pressure looks, and when they have an offense that can put up a lot of points, that alleviates stress on your defense. So they got plenty of ammo over there defensively.
“I know what kind of player he is when he’s in there, but he’s the last thing I’m worried about right now. Until he’s in the building, it’s not a concern.”
One could argue he’s more than worth it. At 29 years old, Jones is coming off one of his best seasons — if not his best — as a pro. He had 15½ sacks to go along with 44 tackles and 77 pressures. He was even better in crunch time: Jones tied for the second-best mark for QB pressures in the fourth quarter or overtime (27), including playoffs.
While the Lions are playing coy about the impact Jones will have on their hopes of pulling off a season-opening upset, it’s clear Jones’ Kansas City teammates realize the impact he has on a game.
Chiefs tight end and future Hall of Famer Travis Kelce recently pleaded publicly with Jones on a recent episode of the “New Heights” podcast, which he hosts with his brother and Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Jason Kelce.
“Chris, can you please come back? You’re really scaring me, man. I don’t get it. You must know something that I don’t know because I just don’t get it. I really want to get another Super Bowl ring, brother. This is me bargaining (with) you to just come back and play football for the Chiefs. We need you,” Kelce said.
“We need you bad.”
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