One of Chandler Jones' best seasons, despite ending last week, earned him another award Thursday morning.

The Cardinals' outside linebacker was named NFC Defensive Player of the Month for December after totaling 6.5 sacks in the Cards' five games. Jones also had 17 tackles, 4 for loss, 11 quarterback hits, 3 forced fumbles and 3 passes defensed.

Jones was also named NFC Defensive Player of the Week in Week 16 -- the second time he had earned that this season -- and was named to the Pro Bowl after posting 19 sacks this season, second in the NFL to the 19.5 of Tampa Bay's Shaq Barrett.

Jones tweeted Tuesday that he had successful surgery on his thumb, fixing an issue with ligaments.

When Jones had four sacks in Seattle in Week 16, he became on the third player ever to have two games of four sacks in a season, and the first in 33 years. Denver's Karl Mecklenburg in 1985 and Philadelphia's Reggie White in 1986 were the others.

Jones is also expected to have a chance at All-Pro honors this season, and be in the discussion for NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Jones was also named NFC Defensive Player of the Month in December of 2017, a year in which he totaled 17 sacks.

Cardinals kicker Zane Gonzalez was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Month in October. It's the first time the Cardinals have had two different players named a "Player of the Month" in the same season since the NFL started the award in 1986.