Travis Kelce, Chris Jones return to Chiefs practice after missing Week 1

In Week 1, the Kansas City Chiefs opened with a tight loss to the Detroit Lions. A big part of that loss came down to Kansas City missing star tight end Travis Kelce and star defensive lineman Chris Jones.

Now, in what should be a relief for Kansas City fans, it looks like those two are both set to return. Both Kelce and Jones returned to practice on Wednesday, preparing to travel to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars in a potentially tricky game.

The two missed Week 1 for their own reasons, but each was missed.

Travis Kelce had injured his knee prior to Week 1 and was forced to miss the game. With several receivers dropping balls and quarterback Patrick Mahomes unable to turn to his favorite target, the Chiefs offense struggled to be its typically explosive self.

Then, on the defensive line, Kansas City gave up 118 rushing yards and only sacked Jared Goff once. Had Chris Jones played, there’s a chance the front seven could have been much more dominant in their effort.

Jones had been holding out and missed Week 1 searching for a new contract. It was shortly after the game when he and Kansas City were able to come to terms on a one-year deal. In the reworked contract, he can make incentives to earn more than the $19.5 million this season before becoming a free agent.

“Chris is an elite player in this league,” general manager Brett Veach said. “… Over the last seven years, he’s really developed into a leader on our team. He’s been instrumental to our success and Super Bowl championship runs and it was a priority for us to keep him in a Chiefs uniform. I’d like to thank Chris and his representation, Michael and Jason Katz, for their desire and patience to get this done. Through this process two things were obvious, Chris wanted to be a Chief, and the Katz brothers worked diligently on his behalf.”

With both Jones and Kelce practicing the Chiefs should once again be at full strength soon.

The Lions-Chiefs opener had a massive viewership

Fans love the NFL, there’s no denying it. On Thursday night when the Lions and Chiefs met to open the season, fans proved just how much they missed the game with a massive amount of fans watching the game.

With an average of 26.8 million viewers, it became the second most viewed opening game since 2015, when New England and Pittsburgh drew 27.4 million viewers.

“NBC digital outlets drew an average minute audience of 2.8 million viewers,” Austin Karp wrote. “That’s 2nd-best all-time for any NBC NFL game (even topping three Super Bowls). +60% from 2022 streaming audience for NFL Kickoff.”