Loser: Young defensive linemen
On any other roster or at any other position, this should have been in the Winners column. But not here—not in Kansas City.
If the Chiefs had a plethora of young interior defensive linemen who needed the reps in training camp to grow and get better, then this would be a different story. After all, the NFL is all about "next man up" and the silver lining of a major absence or injury often means that new players are greater opportunities to develop and show the coaching staff what they can do.
That's not true in this case. The Chiefs have a dearth of talent along the defensive interior, and without Jones, the Chiefs have the worst defensive tackles in the game. They're fortunate that so many edge players can slide inside, but the truth is that there was really no one to benefit here from Jones's absence.
Keondre Coburn is the lone rookie in the middle who could generate any level of excitement among Chiefs Kingdom here, but even he would still have plenty of reps with the second and third-team units (and in preseason games) with or without Jones. As for the rest, Turk Wharton has missed time and is still working his way back from a serious injury. Meanwhile, how do the rest of these names strike you at the position: Phil Hoskins, Matt Dickerson, Chris Williams, Daniel Wise? Yeah, we thought so.
Look, here's what should have happened. The Chiefs should have had a full training camp with Jones providing leadership and guidance for a ton of young players who will line up alongside him all season. For a team that lost Frank Clark and Carlos Dunlap, do you think it wouldn't work wonders to have Jones around taking on that mantle of leadership for guys like George Karlaftis, Felix Anudike-Uzomah, B.J. Thompson and more?
Instead of picking up that responsibility, he only let his teammates down. That's a losing proposition.