ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Nearly six years ago, when the Kansas City Chiefs were just beginning their rise to prominence, Chris Jones tweaked a muscle in practice bad enough that coach Andy Reid made the difficult decision to hold him out of a playoff game against Houston.
Jones wanted to play. In fact, he tried to push through the injury in warmups. But Reid was steadfast, and the Chiefs didn't need him in the end. After spotting the Texans a 24-0 lead, Patrick Mahomes & Co. caught fire, and Kansas
City rolled to a 51-31 victory. And when Jones returned the next week, the Chiefs handily beat the Titans for the AFC championship — two wins that ultimately propelled them to their first Super Bowl title in five decades.
It turns out the backstory to the injury explains a lot about why Jones, now a 31-year-old veteran preparing for his 10th season in the league, has become a three-time All-Pro and one of the game's premier defensive players.
He's competitive. He's relentless. And he doesn't suffer fools gladly.
You see, in practice, hitting the quarterback is strictly verboten. It's why QBs usually wear a different-colored jersey, yellow in the case of Kansas City. Yet pulling back as a defender whose instincts are honed to bring down whomever has the ball can be a difficult challenge, even more so when it's Patrick Mahomes dancing around the pocket, almost as if he's mocking you.
“So we were in a battle,” Jones recalled, after a recent training camp practice in the brutal heat and humidity that seems to engulf Missouri Western State University this time of year, "and I had to show Pat that I can really catch you.
“I just chill,” — usually, Jones added— “because we have to stay 5 to 10 yards away from the quarterback. And it got serious one day, and I ended up pulling a (muscle). And I was like: ‘You know what, Pat? You got it.’”
Yes, the affable Jones had been so competitive that, even in a midweek practice against his own teammates, he managed to hurt himself before what to that point had been the most important game of a championship season.
“Now,” Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said, “we've got a special rule for Chris on that.”
The so-called Chris Rule is quite simple: Once he beats the offensive line in practice, he must stand there.
Just stand there.
“Patrick does some crazy stuff back there. It gets very competitive,” Jones said, sounding downright exasperated. “You know you can't touch the quarterback, so the quarterback can stand and hold the ball for five or six seconds during the play.”
You can see how that could become annoying. Even infuriating.
Fortunately for Jones, there are no Chris Rules when games begin. And that is decidedly unfortunate for opposing QBs, who have become keenly aware of his game-wrecking ability. Jones followed a 15 1/2-sack season three years ago and 10 1/2 the next with five sacks last season, a number made more modest only because the 6-foot-6, 310-pound Jones was faced with constant double- and triple-teams, and those in turn allowed many of his teammates to get to the quarterback instead.
George Karlaftis had eight sacks last season, helping to earn him a four-year, $93 million deal a couple of weeks ago. Tershawn Wharton produced a career-best 6 1/2, which earned him a three-year, $30 million contract with Carolina.
“I've watched (Jones) over the years,” said Jerry Tillery, who signed with the Chiefs in the offseason to play alongside him, “and that's somebody at the top of our game who's doing it the best. To watch this guy work and to be with him — I think that type of player is somebody who can raise everybody's level.”
Jones acknowledged that his game has had to evolve over the years, especially the past six, since those days of trying to chase Mahomes around practice. He still is one of the strongest players in the league, capable of beating a woebegone offensive lineman with brute force, but he now has the priceless benefit of experience on his side.
His explosive athletic ability paired with some nuance and craft has made for quite a combination.
“I mean, he’s as dynamic as they come,” Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady said.
In games, anyway.
On the superheated training fields of Missouri Western, about an hour's drive north of Arrowhead Stadium, that dynamism can still last only as long as it takes Jones to beat the man in front of him — sometimes a fraction of a second. Then, according to the Chris Rules, Jones will dutifully stand up and watch the rest of the play unfold.
“Over time,” Jones said, “you get to see the younger guys are faster. You're a little slower. You don't move the same. So you have to cherish these moments. Cherish these individuals you get to battle with every day, and enjoy the practice.”
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