It’s been over four days since Chris Jones’ costly lapse allowed the Jaguars’ QB to seal the winning score at EverBank Stadium. The Jaguars were in the red zone with no timeouts left. Meanwhile, Trevor Lawrence, after falling to the ground, was still able to score the winning touchdown. And the Kansas City Chiefs‘ defensive tackle, who watched the entire sequence without making any effort to tackle Lawrence from the middle of the field, is still bothered by perhaps his most embarrassing play of the season. But was this play the reason Jones has now disappeared from social media to avoid criticism?

According to Jones, he is not afraid of criticism. And deleting his social media accounts has nothing to do with his lapses against the Jaguars. The 31-year-old DT had quit social media even before the Week 5 game.

“No, I didn’t delete my social media because of a play that I thought he was a down, or was down, and then run,” Jones said before Thursday’s practice. “I deleted my social media days before… 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.”

The veteran DT also did not shy away from addressing 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 Chiefs’ DT had admitted that the criticism wasn’t the reason behind exiting social media.

Patrick Mahomes shared his thoughts on Chris Jones’ actions

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 about 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.