The Kansas City Chiefs have a developing “injury” situation ahead of the Week 4 matchup with the Baltimore Ravens, and it involves superstar defensive lineman Chris Jones.
Jones is not actually injured, but he will be “added to the injury report,” regardless, according to ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter. The Chiefs first announced that he’ll be joining the injury report late last night, on September 27.
“Chiefs All-Pro DT Chris Jones – who was added to the injury report with a non-injury designation – currently is in Mississippi attending his aunt Don’s funeral and will be flying back to Kansas City right after to make it in time for today’s game vs. the Ravens, per the Katz Brothers,” Schefter reported on the morning of September 28.
The Katz brothers are Jones’ player agents, so this information isn’t coming from the Chiefs.
CBS Sports reporter Tracy Wolfson and Chiefs Digest insider Matt Derrick both also confirmed that Jones is attending a “family funeral” before Schefter’s update.
Per Derrick, “Jones took part in the team’s Saturday morning walkthrough before leaving, and he’s scheduled to return Sunday morning. The club added him to the participation report as a precaution in the event travel delays arise.”
While it seems — based on these reports — that Jones should be able to make it back to Kansas City and Arrowhead Stadium before the 3:25 p.m. (CT) outing, that’s a lot of pregame traveling on airplanes, and who knows if that will impact the integral defender on the field.
The Ravens are obviously no slouch, so KC will need Jones at 100% if they are going to win this game. The Chiefs elevated an extra defensive tackle from the practice squad on Saturday, which makes even more sense, considering the Jones news.
Can Chiefs Superstar Chris Jones Get to Ravens QB Lamar Jackson in Week 4?
One of the keys to this Week 4 matchup, according to Chiefs team reporter Matt McMullen, involves Jones and the KC pass rushers.
“Detroit sacked [quarterback Lamar] Jackson seven times last week,” McMullen noted.
Writing: “Jackson is one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in league history, making the Lions’ performance against him last week – which matched a career-high for Jackson with seven sacks – all the more remarkable. Additionally, five of those sacks (and 11 pressures) took place on snaps in which Jackson wasn’t blitzed. The Lions recorded a pressure rate of 50% on those snaps, and when Jackson tried to scramble, Detroit showed tremendous discipline by closing off all of his escape lanes.”
“It was a phenomenal defensive effort by Detroit, and for what it’s worth,” McMullen continued, “the Chiefs – after blitzing at the highest rate in the league through two weeks – generated a pressure rate of 54.1% last week despite only blitzing six times (on 37 dropbacks). In other words, Kansas City created pressure on 18 of 31 dropbacks in which only four rushers went after the quarterback last week.”
He concluded that this statistic is “a big deal, and a similar effort on Sunday would go a long way toward a Chiefs win.”
Needless to say, having Jones at 100% would help with any game plan that involves pressuring Jackson.
Chiefs Set to Give Brodric Martin First KC Opportunity
As noted above, the Chiefs elevated an extra defensive tackle from the practice squad for Week 4. That player is former Lions third-round pick Brodric Martin.
The Chiefs signed Martin to the practice squad following the 53-man roster cutdown. He’s another big 6-foot-5 body on the interior who should be able to help against the run.
With the Lions, Martin appeared in 5 games total, starting 1 of them. He accumulated 4 total tackles over 53 defensive snaps.
The Chiefs also have injury issues at defensive end, with Mike Danna “doubtful” and Ashton Gillotte “questionable.” If those two don’t suit up and Jones does, the All-Pro could see more snaps at defensive end against the Ravens.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Chiefs Superstar Abruptly ‘Added to Injury Report’ Before Ravens Clash appeared first on Heavy Sports.