Chris Jones continues to hold out, but the Kansas City Chiefs remain hopeful that the defensive star could play in the Sept. 7 season opener against the Detroit Lions at Arrowhead Stadium.

"We're certainly hopeful of that," general manager Brett Veach said. "We're looking forward to next Thursday and hopefully he's in the lineup and he's ready to go."

Jones has one season remaining on the four-year contract he signed with the Chiefs in 2020 but has been absent from all of this season's practices in an effort to get a new deal.

Veach said communication between the Chiefs and Jones has picked up in recent days, though he wouldn't say whether he thought the sides were making progress toward a new contract.

"We're going to continue to press on," Veach said. "We're just going to keep working on this thing."