JUCO DE commit Jaden Jones discusses recovery from ACL injury, FSU pledge

Jones is nearly two months out from surgery as he prepares to arrive at Florida State in the spring.

Every player is different and no journey is one in the same. Some guys come out of high school ready to contribute at the college level, others take years of development, a portion never realize their true potential, and a number end up going through the tough route in JUCO to achieve their dreams.

READ MORE: Recruits react to Florida State's run-away rivalry win over Miami

That's the path that three-star defensive end Jaden Jones is on right now; the road less travelled. Jones has been committed to Florida State since June and Hutchinson is currently 9-0 in the regular season. Unfortunately, he's been out due to an injury since early in the year.

"Everything's been going good," Jones said to NoleGameday's Dustin Lewis. "I've just been trying to come to practice, try to encourage my teammates, help them out as much as I can, help them with the recruiting process. We doing good, we trying to come out with the national championship."

The Alabama native suffered an ACL injury during his second appearance of the season that knocked him out for the year. Jones is in the process of medically redshirting after also sitting out the 2021 season.

"Early on, it was kind of tough, just sitting in my bed. I really ain't even realize that my season was over with until like a month in," Jones said. "It just hit me all at one time. Just talking to my momma, I kind of broke down a little bit. But I'm good now, I'm back walking. That was kind of the period where I was just laying down, I couldn't do nothing. Now it's going real good. I'm back walking, I'm back doing exercises."

Since going down in September, Jones has turned his focus to rehabbing his knee. He says that he's ahead of schedule and is progressing at an advanced rate.

"Right now I'm in week 7. This probably was the most challenging week because every week they've got a new protocol to do," Jones said. "I'm kind of going at an advanced rate, so I've been doing stuff ahead of my protocol. It's been going good, probably one of the first times I've broken a real sweat [since my injury]."

One of the recent workouts that Jones has been able to undertake is balancing activities. He's also able to bend his leg enough to do lunges and squats less than two months after surgery.

"Just balancing it. I posted a video on my twitter, I was on a balancing board, throwing a ball back to myself," Jones said. "I've been doing lunges now, trying to get my muscles back. Lunges back and forth down the hallway. I've been doing squats. I'm doing really good in the process."

#KEEPCLIMBING 😤🍢 pic.twitter.com/QHD5zyZ1P0

— Jaden Jones (@JadenJones334) October 25, 2022

Shortly after his injury, Florida State's coaching staff came to check on him and review his outlook. The Seminoles have stayed supportive and remain optimistic about Jones' recovery.

"Everybodys been real supportive. Coach Norvell, he checks in on me a lot," Jones said. "They came up here probably a week after I injured myself to get my surgery papers. Everything went good with that. We're still locked in. Coach Norvell, coach JP, coach Fuller, they check in on me a lot."

FSU produced a First-Round draft pick at defensive end in 2022 (Jermaine Johnson, New York Jets) and might have another one on the docket in redshirt sophomore Jared Verse. The FCS transfer has totaled 30 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, and a team-leading 5.5 sacks. All five of the Seminoles' top five defensive ends (Verse, Derrick McLendon, Dennis Briggs, Leonard Warner, Patrick Payton) in the rotation has recorded at least 1.5 sacks. The production has Jones confident that he'll be able to do the same.

"It gives me a lot [of confidence]. Once you see everybody around you working hard, you don't want to be the last one in line, you want to try to be one of the best," Jones said. "I just feel like it's going to be a real competitive nature, not in a bad way but just bringing the best out of everybody. I feel like it's a good culture going on right now."

Outside of the Seminoles, Maryland, Georgia, and Oklahoma State are the main three schools still pursuing Jones. The Terrapins recently visited him at his school but he's locked in with Florida State.

"I've locked my recruitment down quite a bit," Jones said. "There's still schools that try to hit me up. For the most part, I don't want to mess up my relationship [with Florida State]. So, still locked in."

Jones only visited Florida State once prior to his commitment. He'll return to Tallahassee later this month for an official visit during the weekend (November 25-27) that the Seminoles take on Florida. Jones will be looking for the small details.

"I was there out of season so I kind of already know what I'm looking for. They broke down the defense with me and everything. So now, just looking for the environment, how people react to Florida State football players, how we play as a team, I'll be looking for things like that instead of facilities or whatever. I'll be looking for the details."

The 6-foot-6, 246-pound defensive end has applied to Florida State for the spring semester which means he should be joining the program in January. He's regarded as the No. 3 overall JUCO prospect, the No. 1 DL, and the No. 2 recruit in the state of Alabama in the 2023 class.

READ MORE: Florida State leaves RB Cedric Baxter Jr. with a decision to make

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