Andy Reid sounds uncertain when it comes to free agent-to-be Chris Jones

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid appeared on 610 Sports Radio’s “Fescoe in the Morning” on Friday. He was asked about defensive tackle Chris Jones, on whom the team is expected place the franchise tag in the coming days.

“Chris is a part of this team, a big part of this team — he helped us get where we were,” said Reid, before pivoting. “It’s crazy because in this business, we’re all expendable. That’s been proven over and over again. On the other hand, you’d like to keep everybody. But that’s not real. So would we like to keep Chris? Sure. But things happen in this business, and we’re all players and coaches. We’re all used to that, and so if he’s here, great, man. That’s a great thing. If he’s not, we’re going to keep plowing, man, and keep moving on, and we expect somebody else to step up and fill in that position. We get all of that... You’ve been in this thing long enough, I think we understand that. I think the fans understand that.”

Reid’s tone on Jones was quite more uncertain than when he last spoke on the topic — in an appearance earlier this month on Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s SiriusXM show, “Basketball and Beyond with Coach K.” The Chiefs have until Monday at 10:59 a.m. Arrowhead Time to officially tag Jones.

Patrick Mahomes and reading defenses

Chiefs quarterback and reigning MVP Patrick Mahomes recently said on HBO that he did not learn how to read defenses until “halfway through last year,” likely meaning the 2018 season.

That statement made Reid laugh, who explained exactly what his quarterback was talking about.

“There’s reading defenses and there’s doing it for a number of years,” said Reid. “So he can read defenses — it’s just once you’ve been in it awhile like Tom (Brady), like the guys he mentioned. You’ve been in it a while, it just is second nature. There’s just not a lot you haven’t seen, so I mean he’s in his second year. He just finished his second year as a starter, and there are new things thrown at you. You get to that fifth, sixth, seventh year, and you’ve got it all down. I mean there’s not a whole lot more that could be created to throw at you, and so that’s really what he was talking about I think.”

Quick math tells you that means there is another three to six years of improving ahead for Mahomes, who already managed to throw 50 touchdowns in one season — as well as become NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP in back-to-back seasons.

Once the Chiefs finalize a contract for Mahomes, they should be set at the game’s most important position for many years to come. Almost like a fan, Reid discussed his favorite Mahomes play.

“The run he had was pretty good,” Reid said, referring to Mahomes’ 27-yard touchdown run in the AFC championship game against the Tennessee Titans. “With the little gizmo he did there, the move that he made. I mean, we’re going against NFL players. And then you come back with the Wasp, and the Wasp was a pretty good one. That was huge. He’s had a few of these, but on the biggest stage in the world. This is what we’re talking about. It’s the biggest stage in the world — he completed the Wasp. And under a little bit of pressure there by 99. He was bearing down on him, and he was able to retreat and put that baby up there, and then Tyreek (Hill) and the great job that he did to go get it.”

Reid also discussed coming back from losing last year’s AFC title game and the Super Bowl Gatorade moment — and shared an Elton John story. Listen to the full 16-minute interview above or by clicking here.