‘Guru’ Jones an example, mentor to young teammates
JACKSONVILLE Abry Jones stopped for minute, then laughed.
He had just been told after a Jaguars practice last week what second-year pro Taven Bryan said about Jones, who is entering his seventh season with the team.
“Abry is a guru with this defense,” Bryan said.
“Really?” Jones said response.
It then quickly dawned on Jones what Bryan meant.
“If you want to keep your job you’ve got to know who you’re working with and what to do,” Jones said. “The more you can do, the better.”
Jones, who signed with the Jaguars as a rookie free agent from the University of Georgia in 2013, has used that willingness to fill any role to become one of the most versatile players on the team on either side of the ball.
Jones’ time has directly coincided with Todd Wash’s tenure with the team, beginning when he was the defensive line coach in Jones’ rookie season to now as the defensive coordinator.
Since then, Jones’ size (6-feet-4, 318 pounds) and intelligence (current line coach Jason Rebrovich calls him “cerebral”) have enabled the Jaguars to utilize him everywhere from nose tackle to the speed defensive end.
“He can play every single position, knows every alignment and knows every assignment,” Rebrovich said.
Jones was one of the bright spots on defense during the dismal 5-11 2018 season. He set a career high with five tackles for losses, had 21 solo tackles and batted down two passes. – a in
The year before he knocked down six passes. Throughout his career it’s been a race between his ability to stuff the run and get a paw up to knock down the football.
The count is up to tackles for losses (7.5 them are sacks) and passes defensed.
Jones said the zoneheavy defense, which former coach Gus Bradley brought with him from Seattle and which Wash continues to use, emphasizes versatility and winning one-on-one matchups on the front, with a goal of generating the bulk of the pass rush with the front four instead of blitzing.
“The defense is set up to say, ‘Our side is better than your side and we’re going to prove it,’” Jones said. “Put the best athletes on the field who can run and compete but also have the mental capacity to know the adjustments. It’s set up for guys to be who we are.”
Bryan and other younger players have said Jones is one of the go-to veterans for advice on playing the defense and mentorship in general.
“For being where he’s at, as a college free agent and 16 of 12 how well he plays, is a credit to him but he wants to pass that on to the younger guys,” Wash said.
Wash said some players prefer to seek out the counsel of a veteran rather than coaches. It’s something he understands completely and is thankful he’s got a player such as Jones to be there.
“When he first got here we told him the importance of being detailed as a defensive lineman and he’s taken that and run with it,” Wash said. “A lot of younger guys, newer guys don’t always want to go to the coach. In the hotel or the dorm room, they go to a player and say, ‘What about this situation?’ Abry is that guy. Those guys really lean him on him, which is a lot of fun.”
Given his reputation on the team as a “guru,” does Jones every entertain ideas of coaching in the future?
“Nothing big league, like this,” he said, waving his arm toward the field as other players walked off following a practice last week. “I couldn’t do this. It takes a lot of man-hours, game-planning. I want to help young kids get their start.”