Travis & Jason Kelce’s ‘New Heights’ presents the ‘Stone Cold Jones’ episode

The Kelce brothers cover this week’s NFL news.

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and his older brother — Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce — host a weekly podcast called “New Heights.” The title is an homage to the Cleveland Heights, Ohio, neighborhood in which they grew up.

In this special episode, the brothers welcome Chiefs star defensive tackle and all-around funny dude Chris “Stone Cold” Jones onto the show.

“New Heights” with Jason & Travis Kelce | Jukes Original Presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment | You can also listen to the show on Spotify.

1. Did Travis help convince him to come back?

On a previous episode of New Heights, Travis made an impassioned plea to Chris Jones to come back to the team and settle his contract dispute with the Chiefs. During his interview, Jones admitted that Travis’ words did, in fact, have an impact on him returning,

“I watched the show when you were talking about it and I was like, ‘I miss my dog! I miss my dog.’ It wasn’t the same, bro. I’m like, I gotta get back.”

If you remember, Jones watched the Chiefs season-opening loss to the Detroit Lions from a suite in Arrowhead Stadium.

On top of Travis’ courting him publically, Jones said this experience also influenced his decision to end his holdout, saying it was too hard to sit in the stands and watch his team battle and not be out on the field with them.

“Watching them play, bro. I’m like – I’m going back next week, man. Let’s work something out, let’s do it.”

2. Chris was happy he missed training camp

While he missed the camaraderie of not being around his fellow teammates, Jones said that he did not miss the daily grind and lack of creature comforts that go along with an Andy Reid training camp.

“Listen, bro – training camp? Staying in St. Joseph, Missouri? In a dorm? It’s the best thing I could have missed.”

Instead, Jones opted to train in the Florida heat during his time away from the team — something that he credits as why he was able to come back and hit the ground running in Week 2 against the Jacksonville Jaguars — a game where he tallied 1.5 sacks and batted down one pass.

“I was in Miami, soaking up the sun. I was tanning on the beach a couple days, bro. I think it’s the best thing for me to miss training camp.”

I seriously doubt this is the messaging the Chiefs coaching staff want the leader of their defense out here preaching, but, at this point in his career, Jones is a veteran who feels like he knows what he needs to do to prepare for the season. Thus far, you can’t exactly argue with the results.

3. Is the Chiefs defense talked about enough?

One of the hottest topics of the 2023 season amongst Chiefs fans has been how dominant the defense has looked through the first three games of the season. With a Sunday night game against a less-than-potent Zach Wilson-led New York Jets team looming in Week 4, the question was posed to Jones, whether the defense gets as much love as it deserves.

While Jones said that the defense is playing well, there are no illusions in his mind about who the fans come out to see.

“Well, when you think about it, when we have Pat Mahomes and Travis Kelce out there scoring so many damn points, and we got Taylor Swift at the game – who gives a damn about the defense, bro? Who’s paying attention to the defense?”

“They want to see touchdowns thrown, they want to see the Swifties going crazy…”

Adding that he’s not trying to hate on his unit, but instead…

“I’m calling a spade a spade.”

Travis, however, took exception with Jones playing down the importance of the defense and how much they mean to the fanbase, replying…

“I like to see Stone Cold get some sacks.”