KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs captured their second-straight NFL player of the week honor with defensive lineman Chris Jones nabbing recognition thanks to his big day in the team’s 27-20 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
“It felt pretty good,” Jones said. “Like I told my (defensive line) coach Britt Reid, it’s not about last week it’s about this week. It’s exciting, let’s move on from it and focus on this week.”
Jones picked up three sacks of Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz. He also snatched an interception off a batted pass.
“I was about to crib the thing until the offensive lineman had to clip me,” Jones joked on Wednesday in the locker room. “They really did me a high low, the running back went low and the offensive lineman went high. In mid-air I felt like I was in the air so long I thought someone was going to come and kill me and clean me up.
The second-year defensive lineman proved a force all over the field against the Eagles. He also added two additional quarterback hits and another tackle for a loss in addition to two forced fumbles and breaking up a pass.
Perhaps most impressive, Jones wrecked all that havoc while playing just 48 snaps. The Chiefs had limited his playing time after he missed much of training camp due to offseason knee surgery. He underwent arthroscopic surgery July 12 following an injury sustained during private workouts.
Head coach Andy Reid said he believes Jones is back to top form.
“I thought he was a 100 percent physically,” Reid said. “I’m just thinking he didn’t have the training camp so he was kind of going through that process the other guys went through camp were going through. It was just getting enough reps under his belt he could sustain play. I thought he did that.”
Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones celebrates one of his three sacks recorded during the team’s 27-20 win over the Philadelphia Eagles Sept. 17, 2017. (Photo by Justin Olson, ChiefsDigest.com)
Linebacker Justin Houston also praised the performance of Jones following Sunday’s game.
“I hope and pray that he does that every week,” Houston said. “We are going to need that every week, week in and week out, for us to be a good defense.”
Jones enjoys joking that he can play any position on the field if the Chiefs need him in a pinch.
“Of course,” Jones said. “Tight end. Quarterback. Wide receiver. DB. Whatever they want me to play, man. You all see the hands out there, huh? You all seen it, huh?”
Jones is the second Chiefs player to win AFC player of the week honors in as many weeks. Quarterback Alex Smith won the offensive award in week for his performance against the New England Patriots. The last Chiefs player to win the defensive player of the week award was safety Eric Berry. He won the award in week 13 last season in the Chiefs’ 29-28 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
He is the first Chiefs defensive lineman to win player of the week honors since Jared Allen in 2005.
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Matt Derrick is the lead beat writer for ChiefsDigest.com. Use the contact page to reach him or find him on Twitter: @MattDerrick.
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