Chiefs DT Chris Jones embracing training camp while begging for off days

SAINT JOSEPH, Mo. — Chris Jones loves training camp, and he’ll tell you that with the biggest smirk on his face.

The Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle missed all of last year’s camp as well as the first game of the season in a contract holdout, sparing him from the dorm room life and hot summer practices at Missouri Western State University in Saint Joseph, Missouri.

Heading into this season after his big payday , he attended all offseason practices and was vocal about how much he anticipated returning to training camp. On the first day of camp, Jones jokingly hoped that head coach Andy Reid could see that he may need some days off when the 35-day camp gets into the meat of the grind in times like Day 15 or Day 22.

“I just hope Coach Reid feel it in his heart to understand. 30 [years old] hit different right,” Jones said. Jones turned 30 on July 3.

The biggest opposition against Jones’s request is the 34-year-old star tight end on the opposite side of the ball who has also been at every offseason practice. Travis Kelce turns 35 in the middle of the regular season on October 5.

Kelce has also managed to practice at a high level throughout a busy offseason of podcast appearances, televised golf matches, and gallivanting the world following his pop star girlfriend Taylor Swift.

If Kelce can do it, Jones can as well. But the always crafty and sarcastic Jones will find his reasons in every argument.

“Travis’s job is a little more easier than mine because I’m fighting 300 pounds every play,” Jones said.

“And Travis catching the ball, fighting 135, 140 pounds. I just hope that [Reid] finds it in his amazing heart to give me a day or two off coming up. We’ll talk about it, have further conversations. Maybe I need to have a one-on-one with [Chiefs general manager Brett] Veach, talk to my guy [Chiefs chairman/CEO] Clark [Hunt].”

The first day of camp was a surprisingly light day for the Chiefs. Only two seven-on-seven periods and two team periods, the last period a shortened red zone period.

Jones was in his usual spot at DT working on hand usage in the non-padded practice. But he is happy to be back in camp.

“It’s been two years since I’ve been able to be out here with the guys,” he said.

“Love being in this environment, where we all can focus on football, get better compete, and challenge each other day in and day out.”

With camp life comes dorm life, where Jones said he brought his own queen mattress, a bed that he is sleeping on for the first time “in decades”. But Reid is glad to have Jones’s energy back in camp in the team’s quest for a third straight Super Bowl.

“Listen, Chris is one of the team captains. He’s been that now for the last couple of years and (he’s) so well respected,” Reid said.

“(It’s good) to have him out here, he brings energy. He always brings energy. He has fun out here. I’m glad he’s here.”

Jones has anchored the Chiefs’ defense since he was drafted in 2013 and continued to do so in 2023 with 10.5 sacks en route to a Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro selection. Every offseason, he trains intending to attain the coveted NFL Defensive Player of the Year award that he has yet to earn.

The last three years have seen edge rushers win the award between TJ Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Nick Bosa of the San Francisco 49ers, and Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns. Jones has major competition for the award every year but with the retirement of Aaron Donald, he’ll be a contender for the award once again this year.

“It’s a commitment to myself that I make and also challenging myself to make my teammates better,” he said.

“No matter how much the money is, how much money I’m making, how much money I get, my morals never change in football. I play football because I love the game, not for anything else.”

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