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The good news for Aaron Jones on Sunday came in the form of the numbers the Packers star put up against the Bears in what turned into a big-time rout in Chicago. The other good news for Aaron Jones is actually the bad news—which is to say, the bad Aaron Jones news from Sunday is not all that bad. Which is good.
Got that?
Jones posted a monster stat line on Sunday in the Week 1 win over Chicago, rushing the ball nine times for 41 yards and a touchdown and grabbing two catches for a whopping 86 yards and another touchdown in the 38-20 win
But Jones also appeared to pull a hamstring on the second touchdown, and was seen reaching to clutch his back left thigh even before he crossed the goal line with 6:26 to go in the third quarter. Jones spent the rest of the game stretching and was officially questionable to return, but never reappeared in the game.
Video shot in the Soldier Field tunnel of the Packers walking to the postgame locker room did not appear to show Jones limping.
“It was not a pull,” Jones said after the game, adding he could have returned but he was glad the team did not allow him back in the game. “I’ve pulled my hamstring before and I didn’t really feel a pull. It was just a little bite. Thankful for it, always looking out for my best interests.”
LaFleur Turned to Jones After Halftime
One of the turnarounds in the opener came in the second half when coach Matt LaFleur decided to make a concerted effort to get Jones more involved in the offensive attack. He touched the ball five times on Green Bay’s opening drive, notching 22 yards rushing, on the way to a Packers touchdown, but Jones did not see any further action. He had two pass targets, but both were incomplete.
He touched the ball five times on the opening drive of the third quarter, including a perfectly executed screen that yielded 51 yards and set up Green Bay for a touchdown and a 17-6 lead.
Jones said the play was an easy one for him because he was not even touched for most of the run—but the challenge was fighting off the sun to make the catch.
“It just opened up,” Jones said. “The ball was really in the sun. So I’m just, ‘Just catch this ball, just catch this ball.’ As soon as I felt it hit my hands, I closed my hands and turned and looked and three big linemen in front of me, and they’re escorting me, you know? It opened right up. It was a great play call and it kind of sparked us for the rest of the half.”
LaFleur Had High praise for Jones
Jones, a seven-year veteran, is one of the few true holdovers from the now bygone Aaron Rodgers era, and though he is only 28, he is a team captain and is being looked to for more leadership this season.
LaFleur had high praise for him after the game.
“He’s a guy that tilts the field,” La Fleur said. “He’s so dynamic, so explosive—take all of his ability as a football player out of it. He means so much to that locker room by his actions, by what he says and what he does on a daily basis.
“He’s a real leader in that locker room, he’s a real leader for our football team. He inspires everybody and he comes to work each and every day with a great attitude. I’ve said it a million time about the kind of person he is. You can not have enough Aaron Joneses on your football team.”
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