KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ The Kansas City Chiefs punched their ticket Sunday to Super Bowl LIV with a 35-24 win over the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship Game.
And the Chiefs came out of the matchup without health issues.
"I have no injuries to report, which is a plus," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Monday.
The status update applied to defensive tackle Chris Jones, who has dealt with a calf injury in recent weeks and was the largest concern heading into the AFC Championship Game.
Jones didn't play in the AFC Divisional Round but returned in time to see action against the Titans. He finished Sunday logging 28 of the Chiefs' 66 defensive snaps by design and totaled two tackles and a quarterback hit.
"We started him off slow and just on third downs to see how he would do," Reid said. "He was feeling better as we went along, so we gave him a little bit more.
"I thought (defensive line coach) Brendan Daly did a nice job of managing him throughout. Chris did a good job of communicating. I think as a result, he came out feeling pretty good. Not that he won't be sore _ he hadn't played for a little bit _ but I think all-in-all he came out healthy."
The time off between the AFC Divisional Round and the AFC Championship Game appeared to serve Jones well. And the break in live action between now and the Super Bowl sets up for a fully healthy Jones to take on his usual workload against the San Francisco 49ers.
"I would presume yes," Reid said.
With a healthy team and the Lamar Hunt Trophy in hand, the Chiefs now shift focus to the upcoming opponent.
While serving as the head coach with the Philadelphia Eagles, Reid experienced the spectacle of a Super Bowl week and the media circus that comes with it when his team faced the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX after the 2004 season.
So, Reid is fully aware of the upcoming distractions, which includes numerous media commitments throughout the week.
The Chiefs head coach has a course of action in place to keep focused, and much of the plan surrounds keeping the same routine in Kansas City in the coming week with three days of practice starting Wednesday before the Chiefs fly to Miami.
"You try to get as much done as you possibly can right here, so that's what we'll do," Reid said. "Get most of the game plan in while you're in your own environment here, try to keep it as normal as possible.
"And then once we get down there within all the media obligations that you have, the things that go on, try to keep it as normal as you can practice-wise there, too."
A healthy Jones is part of the normal game-week preparations with the team putting Sunday's game behind them.
Now, it's back to business for the Chiefs with a league championship on the line Feb. 2.
"The guys have been in, the coaches have been in and cranking already on San Francisco," Reid said. "So, we know they're a heck of a football team and we got to make sure we throw all the different distractions that present itself with the Super Bowl. We got to make sure we focus in and get ourselves ready to play."
