Chris Jones took ownership of his mistake on the decisive play in the Kansas City Chiefs’ loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars last week, when the three-time All-Pro defensive tackle thought Trevor Lawrence was down and stopped on the play, only to watch the Jaguars quarterback scramble to his feet and into the end zone.
Lawrence’s touchdown with 23 seconds remaining gave the Jaguars a 31-28 victory over the Chiefs.
“It’s a teaching point for me. A little adversity. I can’t think the play is over, you know what I mean?” Jones said Thursday, the day he typically speaks to local reporters. “It’s a learning lesson. I thought it was over, thought we had him down.”
The Jaguars faced first-and-goal at the 1-yard line following a pass interference penalty. But they did not have any timeouts, so if Lawrence had been tagged down on the play, they probably would have had just one more chance at a winning touchdown.
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“It’s a weird deal,” Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said. “Listen, we always talk about, ‘Never assume.’ … I think guys got caught up in the moment. They thought he was down. Hopefully we learned from it.”
Indeed, several other Chiefs players watched as Lawrence got back to his feet and dived into the end zone.
“Somehow, some way, we needed to get him down,” Spagnuolo said. “There were other things that went on that play that would have given us another chance to defend another play. We’re assuming Chris would have got there. We don’t know that. There are a lot of things on that play that could have gone better. All the guys would tell you that.”
Jones has never been one to shirk responsibility for a play or a mistake, and he owned up to it Thursday. But he also said that it was purely coincidental that he chose to deactivate his social media accounts before the game against Jacksonville.
Not surprisingly, Jones was harshly criticized for what some perceived as a lack of effort on the eventual winning touchdown.
“Me personally, I kind of grade myself different than how everyone else grades me,” Jones said. “For me, it was tough. I had the opportunity, you know what I mean? And I just thought he was down. Maybe it’s my job not to think. It’s my job to finish.”
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes also defended Jones this week, and the perennial Pro Bowl defensive tackle said Thursday he didn’t feel it was necessary to address the team.
“I think they understand I thought the play was over with. I don’t quit, you know what I mean?” Jones said. “It was just one of those instances where I thought he was down. I thought we were going to get him down again.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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