Chiefs' Chris Jones: 'Absurd' Roughing the Passer Penalties 'Costing Teams Games'

Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones said it's time for the NFL to allow reviews on roughing the passer penalties after he was called for a controversial one during Monday night's victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.

"I think they've put such an emphasis on it that we need to be able to view it in the booth now," Jones told reporters. "That's the next step for the NFL as a whole. Looks can be deceiving. When you look at a replay, it's a whole different thing. It's getting absurd."

He added: "Now it's getting absurd. Now it's costing teams games."

Referee Carl Cheffers said after the game he felt Jones, who recovered a fumble in the process of taking down Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, landed on Carr with his full body weight, which is a penalty under the league's current rules, per ESPN's Adam Teicher.

"[Carr] gets full protection of all aspects of what we give the quarterback in a passing posture," Cheffers said. "So when he was tackled, my ruling was the defender landed on him with full body weight. The quarterback is protected from being tackled with full body weight."

Asked whether the fact that a fumble was occurring in the process of the sack changed the perspective, the longtime official explained it comes down to protecting the quarterback.

"[Carr] gets passing protection until he can defend himself," Cheffers, who has worked in the NFL since 2000, said. "Just as if he had thrown the ball, he still gets protection. ... That extends until he's no longer in control of the ball."

The Chiefs, who trailed 17-7 when the penalty was called in the second quarter, came back to win the AFC West clash, 30-29.

K.C. quarterback Patrick Mahomes said that "it wasn't the greatest call in the world" and felt the call became a rallying point for the team's comeback.

"There was anger on how we played up until that point. ... These games are how you build the character of this team," Mahomes told reporters.

Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce agreed with his QB's assessment.

"All it did was just, you know, almost build the beast," Kelce said. "It made us rally together and fight for each other. When you see that out of us, man, we know we can play some good football."

Head coach Andy Reid, who had an animated conversation with Cheffers at halftime, declined to discuss the penalty since public criticism of officials can result in NFL punishment.

"You guys are trying to get me fined and I'm not gonna bite. I'm just not going there," Reid told reporters. "He made the call he made."

The call against Jones continued a recent trend of questionable roughing the passer penalties around the league.

It's unclear whether any clarification about the rule will be made before Week 6, which is headlined by a premier QB battle between Mahomes and the Buffalo Bills' Josh Allen on Sunday.