Chris Jones speaks out on ‘scary’ Baltimore duo ahead of NFL season opener

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It’s official: the wait is over. Today the NFL returns to fill our weeks until February!

And nothing better than for the kickoff to begin with a great game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens.

On the one hand, KC is facing one of the toughest matchups of its regular season schedule.

Baltimore, on the other hand, has the chance for a rematch after being defeated in the AFC Championship.

The reigning champions are favourites to win the game, but the Ravens have a squad that will give them a hard time…

Chiefs aware of what lies ahead against Ravens

Baltimore has been a contender for a few years now, but a specific move in the 2024 offseason has boosted the franchise’s spirits.

Derrick Henry is the new addition to John Harbaugh’s team and joins Lamar Jackson to further strengthen the backfield.

When he reached free agency, the Ravens signed him to a two-year contract in March, with $9 million guaranteed.

The running back, already in his 30s, is considered one of the best in the league at his position and is seeing time pass without being rewarded to the extent he deserves – in other words, with a Super Bowl.

This year is the RB’s chance to change the direction of the organisation and try to bring home a title.

Chris Jones, Kansas City’s defensive tackle, is already aware that he’ll have a lot of work to do on Thursday Night Football.

He spoke to the media about his expectations for the rematch and mentioned Henry’s intimidating presence alongside Jackson.

“Well, that’s a scary dynamic duo. [If] you look at it, Lamar is able to be a dual-threat quarterback; [he] also can pass. Look at the last year: [in the] first game of the season, [he] threw for like, four or five touchdowns. I think their team was like 5-0 [by] Week 5. That shows you a lot about Lamar and his leadership within the Baltimore organization.”

Jones then added: “Then, to bring a special guy like Derrick? He, the last five to six years, has been [in the] top three, top five in the rushing charts.”

“Yeah, it can be very scary. So we’re going to continue to watch film, continue to prepare and look forward to playing against those guys based on training and being around the guys,” the defender claimed.

Steve Spagnuolo shares Chris Jones’ opinion

One of the Chiefs’ brilliant defensive minds was also asked about how to deal with Derrick Henry’s presence in a game like this and Steve Spagnuolo recognised his opponent’s talent in the purest possible way.

“It’s an all pro running back and all pro quarterback who’s got the ball,” said. “When the quarterback puts it in [the back’s] belly, is the running back keeping it? I hope they have a little fight over who’s going to take it.”

Spags then gave a mini preview of how Kansas City should try to contain the threat that the running back represents: ‘It’s a tremendous challenge. Although I think this offense – by [its] nature and who they are and what they’re about – would be [the same] no matter who’s back there.”

“This guy’s a great one, but even last year, we had a great deal of respect for what they did in the run game – and we still do. And we have a great deal of respect for what they do in the passing game… Hopefully, we’ve got a lot of weapons on offense too, so their defense is going to face the same thing.”

Be ready, because this is going to be a respectful TNF!