Andy Reid Gives Positive Final Update on Travis Kelce, Chris Jones for Week 2
The Kansas City Chiefs are less than 48 hours away from their Week 2 matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the club has been optimistic all week that it could get two of its best players back for the Sunday game. On Friday afternoon, that level of hope managed to find new heights.
Speaking to the media on Friday following practice, head coach Andy Reid provided an injury and availability update. Running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire (illness) and linebacker Nick Bolton (personal reasons) didn't participate, but there was plenty of good news to offset that. Reid said he expects tight end Travis Kelce and defensive tackle Chris Jones to be active on game day.
"They did a good job," Reid said. "As long as nothing happens, they'll be out there."
This is a massive benefit for the Chiefs, as both players will be making their 2023 season debuts when they take the field against Jacksonville. Kelce was originally supposed to play in the opener against the Detroit Lions, but a hyperextended knee led to a bone bruise that he simply couldn't recover from in time for the game. Jones, on the other hand, dragged his holdout into the regular season but ended it on Monday when he signed a new one-year contract with the club.
Reid maintained a positive perspective on Kelce during the week, saying on Wednesday that the star pass-catcher was making progress. On this week's edition of his New Heights podcast hosted alongside his brother Jason, Kelce had his eyes set on playing this weekend.
As far as a potential snap count for either player in Week 2, Reid said he didn't have a particular workload in mind for either Chiefs star. On Thursday, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo echoed a similar sentiment and indicated that he didn't want to put a specific number on a rep limit for Jones.
"We'll get through today and tomorrow and see where he is," Spagnuolo said. "I'll be curious to talk to him and see how he feels [with] conditioning. That's the biggest thing, right? It's the conditioning. The one thing we don't want to do, that we want to protect against as best as we can, is to not put him in a situation where we get him hurt. We certainly don't want that. And we all know, look, he hasn't had a lot of work up until this point. We'll get him as much as we can and then try to be smart on game day."
As the Chiefs look to notch their first win of the 2023 campaign, they face a very formidable opponent on the road. The Jaguars competed hard against Kansas City in both of their meetings last season, and this year's team may be even better. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence is one of the best in the NFL and is accompanied by a very solid cast of receivers and a feisty defense. With Kelce and Jones set to rejoin their teammates on the field, they'll both help the road team attempt to get out of town with the victory.