The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
‘A game wrecker’
Jones, short on words, high on work ethic, potential
Offering some insight even while remaining so short-spoken, Travis Jones on Wednesday described his goal as “to dominate” and said the UConn football defense’s approach in 2021 will basically be to “run through a wall.”
If you’re looking for a soliloquy, go elsewhere. Try an offensive player, maybe chatty left tackle Ryan Van Demark, who wove the following into a long summary of his teammate’s talent and value: “Travis Jones is definitely a game wrecker.”
Jones was asked if that was true.
“Yes,” he said, no elaboration offered, probably none needed.
Jones, out of Wilbur Cross, is a massive young man embracing a massive role for a program set to reboot after skipping the 2020 season. The Huskies will hold 15 spring practices between March 1 and April 2, working toward identifying a starting quarterback and so much more.
What’s already understood is that in Jones, 6-foot-4 and 333 pounds, the Huskies have a dominant defensive lineman who clogs the line as a nightmare for an opponent’s running game. He had 55 tackles and 5 1⁄2 sacks as a freshman in 2018, 40 tackles and 3 1⁄2 sacks as a sophomore, playing all 24 games.
When the Huskies open the 2021 season Aug. 28 at Fresno State after a 21-month layoff, Jones, who has two years of eligibility remaining, will enter the second phase of his college career. His personal development wasn’t disrupted in 2020. He got stronger.
“I love Travis,” coach Randy Edsall said. “A man of few words, but he works. He’s in the best shape he’s ever been. … The sky is the limit for Travis. He is a powerful, powerful man.”
When Jones arrived at UConn in 2017 he was a doughy 350 pounds. He was an all-state high school player, athletic for his size, certainly strong — just nowhere near the chiseled athlete he has become. UConn won’t conduct
strength and conditioning testing until after the spring period, but Jones might best represent what a year focused singularly on training and planning means to the Huskies’ hopes of becoming a functional team.
Many UConn players, Edsall and others have said, look like adults now. Jones, a burgeoning NFL prospect even without a 2020 body of work on film, is pretty chiseled. He’s lost 17 pounds while adding muscle. His hope is to be 325 for the season.
“I remember when Trav first took his visit here,” Van Demark said. “We were at practice and this big guy just walks up and everyone is like, ‘Who the heck is that? Huge mother …”
See? Van Demark, no filter, is a talker.
Jones, while personable in spurts, is not. He’s just a heck of a player.
“Travis just wants to be the best that he can be,” Edsall said. “He loves playing the game of football. He loves the work that goes with it. All this time that we’ve had, he’s become even more a student of the game. … Here’s a guy that just [was] big, a raw guy that came in from Wilbur Cross and (it was) just ‘See ball. Get ball.’ Didn’t know a whole lot of anything else in terms of how to play the position. Now you see him really understanding how it all works as a defensive lineman.”
Jones is one of 12 players on UConn’s “leadership council.”
“Travis has come a long way,” Van Demark said. “You can see it on the field, off the field. He came back one break and he was putting
up massive numbers in the weight room and everybody was like, oh, wow. … He’s the hardest worker we’ve got. Maybe three weeks ago, I was talking to Trav and I was like, ‘You’ve got to be more of a vocal leader.’ You’re the leader of the defense this year. I’m trying to push Trav to that spot and I think he’s grabbing the bull by the horns.” Little by little.
“It’s been a challenge for me but I’m working to get better,” Jones said. “I lead by example.”
Teammates look up to Jones.
“I want him to speak up because when he speaks, people listen,” Edsall said. “He’s in the weight room working, people don’t mess with him. He needs to take that and continue to develop as a leader, but I think the sky is the limit for him and the one thing I never have to worry about with Travis is, whatever he’s doing, we’re going to get his best effort.”
Without games, Jones’ competition in 2020 was reduced to trying to stop running back Kevin Mensah in practice. Mensah is a chirper before and after plays.
“He can’t do a lot against me,” Jones said, playfully.
Jones could enter the NFL draft after the 2021 season, or play another two in college. He is all over the map in draft analysis, rated the eighth-best defensive tackle in college football by nfldraftblitz.com, to name one breakdown.
He clearly has a bright future.
He wasn’t interested in discussing that.
“I’ve just been focused on UConn and what we can do this year,” Jones said.