Kansas City Chiefs DT Chris Jones sought to set the record straight on his part, or lack thereof, in Jacksonville Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence’s game-winning touchdown run.

Lawrence got stepped on by a teammate, fell down to the ground, and had time to get into the end zone for a touchdown. After aborting his pass rush, Jones watched it all happen as an observer. It was as if he’d heard the whistle called or simply didn’t care that there was a football play happening before him.

Chiefs DT Chris Jones with the all-out effort to stop the TDpic.twitter.com/vByAe0nhoP

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Jones has been the subject of non-stop criticism from that point onward, but the 10-year NFL veteran isn’t brushing it off. He’s taking it as an opportunity to learn from and improve.

“It’s a teaching point for me, a little adversity,” Jones said. “I can’t think the play is over, you know what I mean? And it’s a learning lesson. I thought it was over, thought we had him now, so I kind of thought I was about to celebrate, and then realized that he wasn’t down. And, you know, the teaching lesson for me is, don’t stop.”

Asked whether he addressed the play with his teammates watching the tape after the loss, Jones indicated that everyone is on the same page.

“No, I think they understand that I thought the play was over with, and they understand I didn’t quit,” Jones said. “It was just one of those instances where I thought he was down, then I thought we was about to get him down again, and, ‘Oh, my God, he’s not down.’ So they understand, they understand that it won’t happen again.”

Chiefs DT Chris Jones vows to be better after costly mistake on Jags QB Trevor Lawrence’s touchdown run

So, where does Jones go from here? He’s grading himself rather harshly because he knows he missed an opportunity to impact the game in what was a defining play. He knows that by not finishing that play, he didn’t do his job to the best of his abilities.

“Yeah, me, personally, I kind of grade myself differently than how everybody else grades me,” Jones said. “So for me, it was tough, because it’s like, I had the opportunity and I just thought he was down. And, you know, it’s my job not to think. It’s my job to finish, and you know, I’ll be better at it.”Jones knew his responsibility on the play, which was to create space for the linebacker to get through the A-gap. However, you can see that Jones kind of gets washed out of the play and is replaced by the linebacker. No matter, he still needed to keep playing through the whistle and finish the play.

“I was the three technique,” Jones said. “I think I tightened down, and the linebacker was coming through the A-gap. So, my job was to play the three-technique like I was doing, but on that, I got to finish.”

Jones is averaging 82.2% of the total defensive snaps through the first five games of the 2025 NFL season. He’s on the field far too often to let a play like that become the norm, so it’s no surprise that he’s vowing to improve and be better.

“I can’t think or assume that he’s down,” Jones concluded. “I got to finish. I’ll be better.”