It looks more and more like Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff won’t have to worry about facing defensive tackle Chris Jones when the Lions meet the Kansas City Chiefs to kick off the NFL’s 2023 season on Thursday night.
The Associated Press reported Sunday that Jones did not show Sunday, seeking a long-term deal (All-Pro DT Chris Jones fails to report to Chiefs for start of regular-season game prep).
For his part, Chiefs coach Andy Reid didn’t seem too worried about the game-plan changes that Jones’ absence would cause.
“You’re never sure how it’s going to work out. You deal with too many people in this type of thing,” said Chiefs coach Andy Reid, who declined to discuss his own involvement in the negotiations before the first significant practice of game week.
“These things can go any direction. I don’t want to spend too much time on it,” Reid added. “We had 90 guys in the offseason that I was making sure were going in the right direction, and now we’re getting ready to play a game. That’s how I go about it.”
But the difference in 0-1 and 1-0 could be massive – especially for the Lions, who are doing everything they can to have any kind of sustained success, let alone become a Super Bowl contender, like the Chiefs are year-in and year-out since Reid’s arrival.
