Kansas City Chiefs players might be away from team facilities ahead of training camp, but many remain hard at work to prepare themselves for the 2024 NFL season.
One of those players hard at work is second-year cornerback Nic Jones, who is in contention to play slot corner, cornerback, and special teams for Kansas City this season. A seventh-round pick out of Ball State in the 2023 NFL draft, Jones primarily played special teams in his first season with the Chiefs.
As he gets ready for his second NFL season, Jones linked up with Detroit Lions CBs Kerby Joseph, Terrion Arnold, Ennis Rakestraw, and Loren Strickland (a former teammate of Jones' at Ball State). Together they trained with renowned private skills coach Jacory "1way" Nichols at Wayne State in Detroit, Michigan.
Jones, of course, is a Detroit native and played high school football at Southfield. It makes all the sense in the world that he'd link up with these guys for a training session with "1Way" in the area. Some of Nichols' current NFL clients include Quinyon Mitchell, Kamari Lassiter, Mike Sainristil, Jalen Pitre, CJ Gardner-Johnson, and DJ Turner.
Competition is at an all-time high in Chiefs' cornerback room and Nic Jones is seeking an edge
Opportunity knocks in the cornerback room in Kansas City after the offseason departure of CB L'Jarius Sneed. The big question as the 2024 NFL season approaches: Who will start opposite Trent McDuffie at the cornerback position?
That question will be answered during Chiefs training camp in July and throughout the preseason. Jones is one of several players who are vying for, not just a spot on the 53-man roster, but a starting role in Kansas City. He'll be competing with players like third-year CB Nazeeh Johnson and rookie CB Kamal Hadden for an opportunity. Jones saw his name recently mentioned by Steve Spagnuolo as a potential candidate to play slot cornerback in 2024.
“Chamarri (Conner) has been in there right now, Nic Jones has been in there," Spags said. "We have some young guys working in there. Trent (McDuffie) can always certainly slide back in. We haven’t put Justin Reid in there, but I’m not so sure if we got in a pinch in an emergency (that) we (couldn’t) do that, but it’s good to have versatile guys.”
Whatever position Jones ends up in, it's clear that he's not making light of the opportunity to compete. He's preparing himself for the battle to come during training camp.
