http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/2010/01/26/2010-01-26_jones_not_in_rush_to_talk.html?r=sports%2Ffootball%2Fjets&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nydnrss%2Fsports%2Ffootball%2Fjets+%28Sports%2FFootball%2FJets%29#ixzz0divVoUa5 We may have seen the last of Jones as a New York Jet. Jones started weak, came around once Greene got some carries, and then fell off again. He was clearly gassed at the end of the season and I doubt he's going to be able to recover enough to be an effective starter. Greene won his starting job and Washington, although a question mark coming off of two broken bones in the same leg, will likely play a bigger role in the offense next year if his progress in healing is to be believed. Jones could be handed a pink slip after this season. Even if the CBA is renegotiated with a new cap, Jones' deal was front loaded in the first two season, and he's currently entering the final and cheapest year.
His knee was giving him trouble late in the year, he is not the type of guy who is going to complain about it so you did not hear him. TJ is the leader of this team and highly respected by the other players. I would like to come to an agreement to keep him around in some capacity.
To be fair to TJ, he was banged up the entire playoffs, yet he continued to play. When you get that banged up, and you can't practice all week, it affects your play on Sunday. Even though I was one of the people who was upset with him right after the game (Mostly due to drunkeness). The problem I have with Greene as the feature back, is that he's still relatively new. How will he fair when he goes from 10 carries a game, to 25+ carries a game. You've got to realize that we're going o be one of the heaviest rn teams in the league, and our feature guy is going to need to be able to get the shit kicked out of him, and still be able to play full speed. Something Thomas Jones has been use to doing the past five years. Greene's running style opens him up to injuries even more so than the average running back.
I appreciate everything Jones has done for the Jets, but I would not be compelled to make sure he comes back. We need guys with fresh legs and Greene and Washington (assuming he is healthy) are more likely to be those guys. Danny Woodhead can still spell our 2 main guys and there will be a ton of younger, heavier backs available as FAs if we need an extra Greene-type. Thomas Jones didn't provide the explosion Greene offered all year, though he did secure the ball better. I don't want to bash the guy, but I can't recall him making any runs out of nothing this year. What I do recall (and thanks to PVR for this as well) are many occasions when Jones ran into the pile with an open running lane slightly to the side....he runs to the hole even when it's not there and doesn't find cut-back lanes. He seems to need an open lane to be effective, so if running the ball with TJ requires that the exact hole he's running to is open, then is that success on Jones or the line? My other problem with him is that when he finds a crease and it starts to close, he immediately goes into "get as many yards as I can while falling down" mode. Greene has shown that he can run through those closing gaps and sometimes come out the other side for an extra 4-6 yards.
And Jones' knee injury on a 31(will be 32 years next season) who has been handed a shit-ton of carries over the past couple of years opens him up to a bone-on-bone knee condition. Jones' time as a starter is over with. He was a great player for the Jets for a couple of years and I'm glad he was on the team during that time but he's done as a starter. I don't know if his pride will let him take a back-up role right now if he is starting next season, this CS has made a mistake.
im gonna keep saying it. we should bring jones back next year unless either of these knee injuries is gonna be debilitating. how quickly everyone seems to forget what he did this season. he isn't flashy and he doesn't break the big run all that often but he never fumbles and is always ready to play on game day. a guy like that is valuable for this team even if he can't take an entire season of being the man again.
TJ gets criticized for going down early, well he does it for a reason: Unless it's a short yardage situation, trying to fight a gang tackle will end in you getting hurt and/or losing the ball (something Shonn Greene is familar with) ... TJ sees a hole and he hits it, if it's not there he gets what he is given and hopes for better run blocking next time around. Let's not forget the guy was 3rd in the league in rushing this year, he is not a spectacular runner like CJ, Ronnie Brown, AP, etc.. TJ is a consistent back who holds onto the ball, blocks extremely well and is a great leader. The guy is in exceptional shape and still has some speed left in those legs, is he worth starter money at this point? I'm not sure, but the guy is still a viable option for us. As far as the Colts gameplan: I thought we needed to run more at the middle with the colts, I saw alot of off tackle stuff where I thought we could have had more success with dive plays. The Colts succeeded in getting to the runner before the blockers could set up, as they are a speed defense.. The way to limit that is with dive plays, I was having a hard time understanding Callahan's logic running the same off-tackle style plays that got blown up every time.
Well he was a no show all playoffs, why would we expect him to show up after they were over. That being said I so like the guy and would not mind having him back, especially if his contract is on the lower side foe next season. He is a good reliable RB that can spell the other guys if needed. Also, his leadership and work ethic can continue to rub off on the younger jets.
I would truly like to have TJ back for next year. The combo of Green and Jones is huge. I don't think he will last beyond next year which makes it a difficult choice and a gamble but I'd like to see him back.
If the Jets are going to run 40 times a game again next year, we'll need TJ, Greene and Leon. And that's if each of tem don't get injured. Jones obviously wore down this year, I beleive even the Jets (Schotty?) said he looked like he had tired legs. He was also running on a bad knee. What will Jones get this year, is it 4 something mil? I think he's worth that. Greene has not shown the durabilty a "featured" NFL RB has to have. He takes a lot of hits. We can't draft a RB, we have other more pressing needs. I doubt we can sign one in RFA either. There will be slim pickings in FA too. Players who might get cut are Tomlinson, Magahee, R Bush... and they will all cost more than Jones would be to keep. If they can limit Jones' touches next year, he should hold up into playoff time. More Leon, more Greene, less Jones.
TJ is a good back. But I have to think that there are quite a few running backs that would prosper quite well in that situation. Imagine having another bruiser. A nice 1-2 punch with Washington thrown back in the mix? Nothing would be better for Sanchez's development.
in a perfect world we replace jones with a younger back, but the issue is what need would we sacrifice to replace jones? if we are going to beat the colts and some of the other elite teams next year we are going to need to find another pass rusher and 2-3 serviceable guys in the secondary. after that we could use some depth on the o-line and the d-line. after all of that is addressed i would start to look at how to upgrade over jones. i just don't think we fill all those holes and still have the ability to get someone to effectively replace tj.
I'm a firm believer that the HB position is the most interchangeable of all the positions. I understand TJones has a been a warrior and a workhorse in this offense...he takes care of the ball, and has been quite durable. But HB's are a dime a dozen....we already have 2 gamebreaker type HBs on the current roster.....it shouldn't be too tough to find another workhorse type HB to replace TJ in FA or late in the draft. Not saying we should cut TJ right away...but i am saying we shouldn't be any worse off if we did.
You have to keep in mind that Leon is not a slam dunk to return to form.. The injury he suffered was not some run of the mill minor tear.. That was a serious, serious injury.
at this point jones and greene need to switch roles.make tj the closer ala bettis after willie parker came up.3quarters of greene slamming in to the defense and jones would be pretty effective closing out a game.
I'm not sure we'll be the ground and pound attack we saw this year, especially with Braylon being in training camp and Mark Sanchez developing into a stud. This offense will be way more well-balanced next year. If we draft Jordan Shipley, I think this can be a dominant two-way offense.
what about trading TJ? I doubt it, because of his age, but just throwing it out there... other teams could use a solid, workhorse rb
i agree with this. I believe Schotty will open up the playbook a little more... for Sanchez to start throwing the ball next season. We'll still see a lot of run plays....but the training wheels will most likely come off our rookie QB.
