‘Stay off of Twitter, man’: Chiefs leader offers advice ahead of NFL stretch run
Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Chris Jones says he’s not looking to social media for inspiration this time of year. In fact, he’s trying his best to stay off those types of platforms altogether.
Jones was asked Thursday about teammate Khalen Saunders’ recent comments on Twitter, where Saunders was challenging the narrative that the team has a lacking pass rush while ranked fourth out of 32 NFL teams in sacks.
Would that sort of perceived slight, Jones was asked, be a rallying cry for the D-line the rest of the season?
Jones went in a different direction with his answer.
“Stay off of Twitter, man. Forget it,” Jones said. “At the end of the day, I understand where he’s coming from. But in this league, man, everybody’s not going to like you.”
Saunders — he missed all three practices this week with an illness — interacted with fans in other posts over the last few days. In some Tweets, he praised Chiefs fans, while in others, he criticized those who tear down players online.
Jones said, from his experience, social-media interactions with fans in-season typically were not productive.
“Sometimes it can turn out ugly and can take a left turn,” Jones said. “For me personally, I just stay off social media, especially during this time — especially engaging with fans that either dislike you or dislike you for a play you did this year, or dislike you for a play you did last game. They’ll live with it. We’ll pick it up next game and can talk about it later.”
Saunders isn’t the only Chiefs player whose online comments stirred up interest this week.
Shortly after former Chiefs punter Dustin Colquitt noted Sunday on Twitter that punter Tommy Townsend’s field-goal and PAT holds might be contributing to kicker Harrison Butker’s struggles, Townsend posted a tweet Monday that read, in part, “Coach Reid preaches this all the time.. don’t listen to people outside of the building they have no idea what they’re talking about.”
Jones said Thursday that social media had changed athletes’ everyday lives while allowing them to interact more directly with fans.
The critical part, he said, is keeping everything in context.
“Everybody’s not going to appreciate you,” Jones said. “As long as the guys in the room understand it — as long as this team, which is the most important part of this whole schematic — as long as they understand your value, that’s all that matters.”
