Kansas City Chiefs Fight: Instant Analysis of Baldwin-Jones Brawl

The Kansas City Chiefs first round draft pick Jonathan Baldwin was involved in a locker room fight with veteran running back Thomas Jones on Friday. 

Baldwin was injured during the fight, and he is expected to miss the rest of the preseason rehabbing his wrist. The reason for the brawl is unknown, but no matter what it is, this is not good news for the Chiefs. 

Here a few questions and thoughts moving forward from this teammate conflict. 

Why the fight is bad for Baldwin 

The Chiefs took a gamble in drafting Baldwin with the No. 26 overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft, but they were desperate for wide receiver help. It was a definite reach in the draft, and they thought it would pay off in the end. 

Now Baldwin will miss crucial preseason games, and there is no guarantee he will be back for the regular season opener against the Buffalo Bills on September 11. There was already a lot of criticism involving Baldwin. People have called him a diva, and this just makes matters worse for the rookie.

Not being able to learn and improve over the preseason will hurt Baldwin, and don't be surprised if he is a non-factor for the Chiefs in 2011.  

Why the fight is bad for Jones

Today is Jones' 33rd birthday, and what a horrible present to receive. The veteran running back was one half of the leagues best running attack in 2010, and obviously he is not happy at the moment.

The Chiefs badly need to have a dynamic run game again, and having Jones get into a scuffle with a teammate could hinder how they perform in 2011. 

Why Baldwin should be embarrassed 

 The receiver is 6'4", 230 pounds and he walks away from a fight with a wrist injury against a guy that is listed at 5'11", 212 pounds and is definitely shorter. Weak, buddy. Way to prove that it's not the size of the dog, it's the fight. 

Why Jones should be embarrassed 

A veteran player entering his 12th year in the league should know better than to get into a fight with a rookie. It's his birthday and he's battling it out with a teammate. Not a good move from Jones, and he should be ashamed for his actions. 

Who will step up in Baldwin's absence 

The biggest problem for the Chiefs last year was that Matt Cassel didn't have a No. 2 wide receiver target. Dwayne Bowe is their best receiver, but a tight end was second on the team in receiving. This was the reason they drafted Baldwin, and now it appears he won't be much helpful this season.

Look for new addition Steve Breaston to have a big impact for Kansas City this year. He would have likely played the slot position more often, but now that Baldwin is down he gets a chance to prove his worth. The fifth-year player from Michigan has a career average of 13.5 yards per catch, and he will be the explosive player the Chiefs were lacking a year ago.

The impact the fight has on the Chiefs 

Some say NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is so harsh that the league name has been changed to the No Fun League. If he decides to step in on this matter then it's not going to end well for the Chiefs. The last thing this team needs is for two of their projected top offensive players to be suspended.   

Kansas City needed Baldwin to progress over these next few weeks and now he is forced to sit out and rehab. They will definitely miss his play-making ability while he's out, and hope that he is fully healthy when the season rolls around.

If this fight is an indication that Jones is not happy, then the Chiefs offense will suffer in 2011. Jones splits carries with Jamaal Charles, and he may not be all that thrilled that he isn't getting a ton of attention this year.

Again, nobody knows why the fight happened, but Jones being upset is a possibility. Then again, maybe he was just trying to teach the hot headed rookie a lesson and it escalated further than expected.

The Chiefs are coming off of a division winning season, and they had high hopes for 2011. Now their No. 1 draft pick could be out with an injury that some have said will last only a couple weeks and others say as much as eight weeks.

Head coach Todd Haley and the rest of the Chiefs will have to press forward and forget about this incident. Hopefully it won't be an issue for the rest of the season, because the Chiefs need to be focused on repeating as AFC West champs. 

-Eric Bowman