As promised, Jaguars' Jones-Drew set for season opener
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew resisted the temptation to open his media session on Monday with local reporters with the words, "I told you so."
Jones-Drew had said since the first day of training camp that he would be ready for the regular-season opener; that it would only take a game or two in the preseason to get his football conditioning to full speed.
The eighth-year running back had foot surgery to correct a Lisfranc injury near the end of the 2012 season, causing some to speculate whether he would be ready for the start of the 2013 regular season.
After sitting out the first week's game against Miami, Jones-Drew was in for seven plays last Saturday against the New York Jets. He carried the ball three times for nine yards and had one reception, a short swing pass out of the backfield that he turned into a 20-yard gain down to the Jets 6-yard line.
"It felt great. Now I just can't wait to build off this and see what happens this week," he said afterward.
On Monday, Jones-Drew echoed those same thoughts and said the foot felt fine two days after getting his first playing time on an NFL field since last October 21 in Oakland when he was hurt on the first play of the game against the Raiders.
"I feel great, the ankle feels great," he said. "I didn't play much so I don't want to make it sound like I played the whole game, but it felt good to get hit one time, guys trying to cut my legs out from underneath me. And that's what you worry about more than anything, how your foot is going to respond when someone tries to cut you. So that was exciting."
Jones-Drew said he doesn't care if he plays in the next two preseason games or not. "I've done it both ways. I've played in all four preseason games before, I've played in none and I've played in two," he said. "So it really doesn't matter to me. It's not my decision anyways, it's what the coaches want."
--Team correspondents for The Sports Xchange contributed material for this story.
