Kansas City knew exactly what it was getting with Chris Jones. The veteran has long believed preseason reps offer limited value at this stage of his career. He skipped the entire preseason in 2024 and logged just one snap in 2025, so the Chiefs have already shown they are comfortable keeping his workload light. That was obvious again against the Rams. Jones had barely broken a sweat before his night was essentially over. One defensive snap in, Jones was already headed back to the sideline. His night was over almost before it started.

“Chris Jones was itching to stay out there 😭,’”the NFL’s official account wrote, posting the video of Chris Jones from the sidelines on Instagram.

The Rams opened their three-game preseason schedule against the Chiefs on Saturday, and most of the night belonged to backups. But Chris Jones still managed to become part of the story almost immediately. Earlier in the week, the Chiefs star had already made his position clear. After Thursday’s practice at Missouri Western State University, Jones said he saw little value in preseason snaps unless Kansas City’s starters were actually facing the opponent’s first-team offense. Against the Rams, that reluctance did not take long to show.

“I hope Coach Reid be like, you know, let the starters… don’t play, you know?” Jones said. “But also, it’s getting reps, repetition. We’ve been playing against each other. It’s good to get repetition, but I don’t want to play preseason. I’d rather not play, but if I do have to play, I’m going to buckle up.”

Jones’ reluctance makes more sense when you consider how much work Kansas City had already put in. His comments came after the Chiefs’ 14th training-camp practice, following a demanding stretch of eight padded sessions in 10 days. By then, Jones had spent weeks going against familiar faces like Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith, seeing the same protections and working through the same schemes.

More importantly, Jones was not dismissing the preseason entirely. He acknowledged that it can still provide useful “reps” and “repetition” because facing another team brings different looks. But for a 32-year-old entering his 11th season with 155 regular-season games, 87.5 career sacks, seven straight Pro Bowl selections, and three Super Bowl rings, Kansas City already knows exactly what it has in Chris Jones.

He went a step further, explaining exactly why facing real starters matters to him.

 “The mentality is like, I want to play against their starters, you know what I mean? I want to play against the guys that are going to be starting on Sunday because, one, you like to weigh yourself out, where I’m at, where I improve, and give me your best talent,” he said. “So it kind of can change the dynamic. But anytime we get on that field, you’ve got to give your best.”

Well, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo seemed to take note. Jones got exactly one snap, the first defensive play of the game, before getting pulled, and based on his face on the sideline, this wasn’t quite the workload he had in mind.

Jones’ one-snap cameo may have looked strange, but Kansas City has done this before with established stars. Patrick Mahomes offered a clear example in the Chiefs’ 2025 preseason opener against Arizona, when he played just one offensive series before Andy Reid shut him down. The first-team offense needed only two snaps to score, and Reid later said the starters looked “sharp.” A year later, the same logic applied to Jones. Kansas City did not need a long exhibition sample to learn anything new about either player. Mahomes got one series. Jones got one snap.

That’s especially notable coming off a season where he was one of the league’s most productive interior linemen, racking up 63 pressures in 17 games, the third-most at his position, while leading the Chiefs in QB hits (25), tackles for loss (12), and sacks (7).

Up next for Kansas City is a preseason matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, followed by the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, before the regular season opens against division rival Denver. It remains to be seen how much action Jones will see on the field.

While Jones didn’t really get a chance to show his form, some performances stood out.

How the Chiefs performed in their preseason opener against the Rams

The Kansas City Chiefs opened their 2026 preseason with a 20-12 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, and the game looked exactly like August football usually does. Most of the stars barely saw the field, the stadium was far from full, and the night belonged largely to players fighting for roster spots.

On offense, rookie running back Emmett Johnson picked up 59 yards on 12 carries. Rookie quarterback Garrett Nussmeier got extensive run under center, completing 13 of 19 passes for 98 yards.

Second-year tight end Jake Briningstool led all Chiefs receivers with 29 yards on three catches.

Up front, Jaylon Moore seems to be pulling ahead in the right tackle competition, especially with Khalil Benson sliding over to right guard while Trey Smith sits out with a hip injury. That said, the offensive line still has work to do after racking up ten penalties on the day.

Rookie receiver Cyrus Allen kept the training-camp hype going with a contested catch late in the second quarter, just missing out on a touchdown when a defender knocked the ball away at the last second. Safety Jaden Hicks made a strong case for his roster spot with a team-high seven tackles, filling in for an injured Chamarri Conner.

On the defensive line, first-round pick Peter Woods was quiet statistically while nursing an ankle injury, but second-rounder R Mason Thomas flashed real promise with a tackle for loss, a pass breakup, and a quarterback hit.

The good news? Kansas City walked away mostly healthy, with only backup tackle Chukwuebuka Godrick exiting due to an ankle issue.