Hero for the overlooked:
The Packers’ Aaron Jones is a breakout running back who carries a big chip on his shoulder. ❚ Packers-Niners collide for top spot in NFC, Page 14
GREEN BAY, Wis. – A running back knows his preparation might not matter once the ball is snapped. The unexpected comes quickly. A running back must adapt.
So by his third step of each play, Aaron Jones has one goal.
“If I can remind myself while I’m lined up, ‘Get your shoulders square,’ ” Jones says, “I know the play is going to be that much better. Because I’m going to have a two-way go.”
Jones mimics as he sits in a black-leather armchair in Lambeau Field. He points his chest straight ahead. He dips his right shoulder as if to make a cut to his right, then rotates his left.
“If my shoulders aren’t square,” he explains, “I might miss the cutback.” Jones calls this a “one-way go,” and it’s no good. Because no running back likes being boxed in.
Watch Jones dip and turn. Hear him emphasize the benefit – no, the need – for adaptability. Subtly, he’s revealing something more.
The game reflects his life. Jones was in second grade when his parents left. He hugged them goodbye, and they went off to fight a war.
Alvin Jones Sr., now a retired command sergeant major in the U.S. Army, went to one corner of Iraq. Vurgess Jones, a retired sergeant major, went to another. She was an equal opportunity adviser, tasked with tracking soldiers who were wounded or killed. With the sound of improvised explosive devices detonating in the background, she prayed. Then she started her daily count. Alvin Sr. led a transportation battalion, navigating Iraq’s deadly streets.
The kids were uprooted from their homes in Clarksville, Tennessee, in spring 2003, staying with their aunt and uncle in Virginia. The distance left scars. “I have separation anxiety when I’m not with them,” Vurgess says.
Now, Aaron Jones is among the breakout stars of this NFL season. Now he’s tied for the league lead in touchdowns (14), on pace to reach 1,500 scrimmage yards, despite an offense still reluctant to give him the Leonard Fournette, Dalvin Cook, Christian McCaffrey workhorse treatment.
Now he’s getting a smattering of MVP chatter, starting with his two-time MVP quarterback.
Back then, Jones lived a different kind of two-way go. His family often faced two options: move or stay. With active military parents, staying was rare.
No matter where his family lived, Alvin was determined to be a constant presence in his children’s lives. He never knew his father. Alvin played football for one high school season – he was a running back – but had to quit so he could get a job. His mother, he says, was a heroin addict.
Alvin passed everything he could to his kids. Aaron Jones grew up with his father coaching him and his mother as the “team mom.”
There were some things they didn’t need to teach. Like an insatiable desire to overcome odds, doubters be damned.
Jones finished top three among all running backs there at the NFL scouting combine in vertical jump, broad jump, three-cone drill, 20-yard shuttle and 60-yard shuttle. His burst and lateral quickness put him with the likes of Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara.
Scouts looked at his 4.56 40 time (14th among running backs in that class) and lack of size (barely 5-9, a shade under 200 pounds).
Jones dropped to the fifth round.
“You’ve got to keep the chip on your shoulder,” he says. “My chip on my shoulder is, there were 18 other backs taken before me in my class, and I feel like there weren’t 18 backs that were better than me. I mean, of course you have your top backs, and I feel like I’m in that conversation with the top backs.
“They told me I wasn’t fast enough, I wasn’t big enough, I wasn’t strong enough. Over the years, you store it away and use it as a positive, and not a negative.”
For three years, Jones has been driven by a singular idea. That he could become just the 12th NFL player ever to score 22 touchdowns in a season changes nothing. “I still feel,” he says, “like people are doubting me or sleeping on me.”
The Joneses transferred for a final time to El Paso in 2007. Unlike much of Texas, the city is not a hotbed for high school football recruiting. So when a recruiter from the University of New Mexico scheduled an inhome visit, the Joneses couldn’t say “yes” fast enough. The Lobos wanted Aaron as a tailback, and Alvin Jr., his twin brother, as a linebacker.
On the day the Lobos’ defensive coordinator was scheduled to stop by the Jones’ home, Vurgess cooked a big dinner. The recruiter never showed up.
The Jones twins signed scholarship offers to their intown school, the University of Texas-El Paso, instead.
Jones’ first college game was against New Mexico. He rushed for 127 yards and two touchdowns on just 11 carries. When they played the Lobos one year later, Jones rushed for 237 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries.
Then there was Texas Tech. The Red Raiders were the only power-conference program that invited Jones to campus. Once he arrived, Jones says, he discovered he made that 51⁄2-hour trip to Lubbock only for coaches to tell him he was too “little” for a scholarship.
In his junior season, he traveled back to Lubbock with the Miners.
“They had a guy,” he says, “who was even shorter than me.”
Even now, Jones remembers the name: Jakeem Grant. A 5-7, 171-pound receiver, Grant is in his fourth season with the Miami Dolphins. In the game, which UTEP lost, Jones had 139 yards on 17 carries. He had two touchdowns, including a 91yard score down the left sideline.
The trend continued in the NFL. As Alvin Sr. tells it, the Cowboys sent former offensive coordinator Scott Linehan to El Paso before the draft. At UTEP’s pro day, Linehan told Jones the Cowboys wanted to draft him. But Dallas was gearing toward a defensive draft. It wouldn’t take an offensive skill player until the sixth round.
Then it drafted a receiver in the fourth round. Jones remembers that name, too: Ryan Switzer, North Carolina.
Jones got his first career start against the Cowboys. He rushed for 125 yards and a touchdown. When he returned to Dallas last month, he gained 182 scrimmage yards and scored four touchdowns. In two games, he has 266 more yards and five more touchdowns than Switzer ever had for the Cowboys.
Knee injuries derailed his first two years. At the end of last season, Jones said his primary goal was to play a full 16-game schedule. He cut candy from his diet. He lugs 5-pound dumbbells around his house. He started massage therapy twice weekly.
He has already played a career-high 389 snaps as his team travels to San Francisco with the winner taking over as the NFC front-runner.
“He’s a pretty tough kid,” Packers running backs coach Ben Sirmans says, “and he’s got a lot of pride. I think with his military background with his family, he’s got that mind-set of, it doesn’t matter how big or small you are. It’s all about your determination.”
Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET, Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee TV: CBS
Danny Sheridan’s line: Titans by 3
Jaguars’ keys to victory: QB Nick Foles has made his return, but the Jaguars are still getting embarrassed. The veteran was 33for-47 passing for under 300 yards with an interception in Week 11. Perhaps Foles is just knocking the rust off after being sidelined since Week 1 with a broken collarbone. On the defensive side of the ball, the Jags have struggled against the run, which will be one of their next opponents’ top strengths. Another thing the team needs to address before the matchup is play calling. Some of the decisions made by offensive coordinator John DeFilippo just didn’t make sense, like feeding RB Leonard Fournette the ball eight times.
Titans’ keys to victory: It’s important to feed RB Derrick Henry to snag the momentum and keep it rolling in their favor. QB Ryan Tannehill is 3-1 in Marcus Mariota’s place and has been efficient. Tennessee will need to see continued accuracy and consistency from him. This is typically a close matchup, and the Titans’ defensive backs are good at creating turnovers.
Matchup to watch: Jaguars LB Myles Jack vs. Titans’ Henry. The Titans have found recent success on the ground attack. Henry is a powerful runner who is hard for anyone to stop. Jack is one of the team’s strongest defenders, and he’ll play a large role in handling the task.
Who wins? The Jaguars have had their fair share of struggles lately, while the Titans now have a rejuvenated offense. It will be the gritty battle, as always, but Tennessee has home-field advantage.
Titans, 30-24