Things didn’t go well for the Kansas City Chiefs in the Week 5 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, especially during the final moments of the game. And yes, especially for Chris Jones. The Jaguars were in the red zone with no timeouts left, and Trevor Lawrence’s foot was stepped on, causing him to stumble and fall. But after hitting the ground, Lawrence got up, scrambled to the outside, and ran in for a 1-yard game-winning touchdown.
However, in the process, Jones appeared to pause and not pursue Lawrence aggressively, thinking that the play had been over and the Jaguars’ QB had been taken down. Right after that went down, the veteran defensive tackle received a heap of criticism and reportedly deactivated his social media handles.
But fast forward to now, and Jones had admitted that he exited social media before the game, and not after the game, due to criticism of the final play. “I take social media breaks… I go through periods where I don’t need any social media. It’s not beneficial for me when I don’t have any brand deals,” he said.
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During the Jaguars’ final play, Jones saw Lawrence go down, then watched him get back up and roll to his left. Believing the quarterback was already being wrapped up, Jones slowed his pursuit. But once Lawrence broke free, Jones hesitated again, taking just a half-step before shutting it down entirely with just 23 seconds remaining on the clock.
He addressed the play after the game. “I thought multiple times we had him,” Jones told the reporters. “We just got to finish. We’ve got to finish. We got multiple guys there that we just got to finish that play. It was a fluke play for him to be able to break that many tackles. But yeah, I put it on us as a defense. We’ve got to finish. You know, we’ve got to bring him down on that.”
The criticism that followed the game, however, was palpable. But the veteran DT had admitted that the criticism wasn’t the reason behind exiting social media.
Social media can be just as ruthless as it is passionate when it comes to athletes, and Chris Jones seemed to become its latest target, or at least, that’s what many thought. Some assumed Jones deactivated his social media after facing criticism for standing by as the Jaguars clinched the game, while the DT set the record straight, explaining his actions.
But even before Jones’ justification, the Chiefs’ quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, had shared his thoughts on exiting social media. “Yeah. I mean, it can be toxic, for sure, I mean, being on social media and seeing stuff,” Mahomes opined during the pressers. “At the end of the day, I know who I am, and I know the amount of work that I put in, and I can live with myself and live with the results.
“And so, I feel like, if you’re putting in the work and you’re doing whatever you can to leave everything on the football field, you can live with the results of a win, loss, or whatever anyone has to say. Because you know the type of effort that you’re putting in every single day.”
The 31-year-old defensive tackle is playing his 10th NFL season and has already earned three Pro Bowl nods. So it’s safe to say that one bad game just doesn’t justify his grit and competitiveness. While the debate around why he stood still was palpable, the criticism that followed wasn’t the reason behind Chris Jones deactivating his social media. At least, that’s what the DT explained.
