Jones appeared in all 13 games and made three starts as a true freshman at Mississippi State in 2013. He had 32 tackles and three sacks. As a sophomore, he appeared in all 13 games and had 26 tackles and three sacks. As a junior, he started all 13 games, recording 44 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Following the conclusion of his junior year, Jones made the decision to forgo his senior year and enter the 2016 NFL Draft.
Professional career
Coming out of college, Jones was projected by analysts and scouts to be drafted in the second round. He was ranked the eighth-best defensive tackle and the 48th-best prospect by NFLDraftScout.com. Jones was invited to the NFL Combine and completed the entire workout and all the positional drills. While running the 40-yard dash, Jones had a wardrobe malfunction and exposed himself before falling to the ground to fix the issue. He attended Mississippi State's Pro Day, but decided he was satisfied with his combine performance and only performed positional drills.
2016
The Kansas City Chiefs drafted Jones in the second round in the 2016 NFL Draft. Jones was the fifth defensive tackle drafted in 2016. On May 8, 2016, the Chiefs signed Jones to a four-year, $6.23 million contract with $3.44 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $2.73 million. He entered training camp competing with Jaye Howard, Allen Bailey, Nick Williams, and Jimmy Staten to be the starting defensive end. Jones was named the backup left defensive end, behind Jaye Howard, to begin the regular season. Jones made his professional regular season debut in the Kansas City Chiefs' season-opening 33–27 victory over the San Diego Chargers. The following week, he recorded his first tackle and finished with two solo tackles in a 19–12 loss to the Houston Texans. On October 18, 2016, he was named the starting right defensive end after Allen Bailey was placed on injured-reserve with a shoulder injury. On October 23, 2016, Jones earned his first career start and recorded two solo tackles in a 27–21 win against the New Orleans Saints. The next game, he made a solo tackle and his first career sack on Andrew Luck in a 30–14 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. In a Week 10 matchup with the Carolina Panthers, Jones made three solo tackles and sacked Cam Newton in a 20–17 win. On December 8, 2016, he recorded a season-high five combined tackles in a 21–13 win against the Oakland Raiders. On January 1, 2017, Jones recorded a season-high four solo tackles in a 37–27 win against the San Diego Chargers. He finished his rookie season with 28 combined tackles, two sacks, and four pass deflections in 16 games and 11 starts.
2017
On September 17, 2017, in Week 2, Jones recorded three sacks, two forced fumbles, and an interception in a 27–20 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, earning him AFC Defensive Player of the Week. Overall, he finished the 2017 season with 6.5 sacks, 32 total tackles, one interception, seven passes defensed, and four forced fumbles with five starts and 16 appearances.
2018
During Week 5 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Jones returned an interception 20 yards for a touchdown in the 30–14 victory. Later in the same game, he was ejected for punching Andrew Norwell in his right thigh after an extra point attempt. Jones has recorded a sack in all games from Week 5 to Week 16, setting an NFL record of 11 consecutive games with a sack. Jones broke the NFL record held previously by Simon Fletcher who recorded a sack from Week 11 of 1992 to Week 3 of 1993. He finished the season third in the league with 15.5 sacks, which led the Chiefs, along with 40 combined tackles, five passes defensed, two forced fumbles, and an interception. He was named second-team All-Pro for his performance in 2018.
On March 16, 2020, the Chiefs placed the franchise tag on Jones. On July 15, Jones signed a 4-year contract worth $80 million, with $60 million guaranteed.
