Patriots DL Jones’ status unknown for playoff against Chiefs

Sure enough, Jones was on the field, given an opportunity to redeem himself… at least in the eyes of the New England faithful. Kansas City can keep it close, Stephen Gostkowski could prove to be the difference.

New England Patriots defensive lineman Chandler Jones is keeping a low profile in the week after he was taken to the hospital with an unspecified medical emergency.

The team listed him as having limited participation in practice – one of a dozen Patriots in that category on Wednesday’s practice report – because of a knee injury.

But Gronkowski started and was effective, with seven catches for 83 yards and two touchdown receptions, and he gathered an onside kick at the end of the game. Upon his arrival, according to reports released today by the police, it was apparent that Jones hadn’t done anything wrong, but rather needed assistance.

On Tuesday, The Boston Herald broke a story that Jones had shown up to a Foxborough, Massachusetts police station under the influence of a drug, though it was unknown what the drug was.

Jones apologized to his teammates as well as the Patriots fans on Thursday admitting to a “pretty stupid mistake”, and some played the morality card while putting Belichick under the microscope.

Is the organization concerned about any internal fact-finding that might point to possible PED policy or substance abuse violations?

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello declined to comment on whether the league would investigate or impose discipline. “Right now, my main focus is becoming the best player I can be and helping the team”.

“Relative to Chandler’s situation, there is nothing that is more important to me personally than the health and well-being of our players and the support people in the organization”, Belichick said. “He reported to work on time Monday morning and has participated in all meetings and practices since then”.

On Thursday, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick wasn’t exactly thrilled to be answering questions about Jones before a postseason game.

“We’ll see on Saturday”, he said before getting snippy with reporters. I can just Xerox you a copy of the gameplan [so you can] send it to Kansas City. “That might be easier for all of us”, he said.

Jones appeared in the New England locker room with 2 minutes left in the media availability.