The Kansas City Chiefs have taken a massive blow ahead of their Week 15 game against the Los Angeles Chargers on “Thursday Night Football.”
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Andy Reid confirmed that star defensive lineman Chris Jones is in the league’s COVID-19 protocols and would not be available to practice on Tuesday. That means that Jones is likely heading to the Reserve/COVID-19 list as the result of either a positive test or a close contact.
“Chris Jones is in the COVID protocol right now,” Reid said.
Jones’ vaccination status and if he tested positive will be the determining factor in whether he’ll have a chance to play in Week 15. Should a player be vaccinated and test positive, they need two negative tests taken 24 hours apart in order to be cleared for return. If a player is unvaccinated and tests positive, they are required to isolate for 10 days and can return to the roster after those 10 days so long as the player remains asymptomatic.
Reid stopped short of ruling out Jones and WR Josh Gordon for Thursday’s game in Los Angeles. Gordon was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Monday.
“We’ll see,” Reid said. “We’ll just see how the testing, you know they test here. So, we’ll just see how that goes.”
The likeliest scenario here is that the Chiefs are without both Jones and Gordon for a pivotal Week 15 game against the Chargers on a short week. The absence of Jones would be a crushing blow to a defensive front that has been one of the most dominant in the league in recent weeks.
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