Aggies DB Jaylon Jones Reveals No. 1 Way for A&M to Have Successful Season

Jones enters his junior year after an impressive showing in the secondary last season.

The Texas A&M Aggies left a lot on the table last season. Ending things off with a bowl game against Wake Forest that never came made this all the more frustrating.

Junior defensive back Jaylon Jones has his eye on the season ahead, but he admitted how bad the team wanted to play despite having just an 8-4 record at that point.

"I would say yes," Jones said Thursday when asked if this made the offseason feel long. "Cause I feel like going into the bowl week, we really wanted to play that game and finish off the season right."

Jones has made a name for himself in College Station. Now, as a stronger leader of the A&M secondary, he says it's going to take one key factor if the team wants to reach the heights they expect of themselves this season. 

"A lot of things go into it, but my biggest thing in being great, first thing is consistency. I feel like that's the number one thing in being great. If you don't have that, there's no way you can be there."

It might seem like an obvious answer, but the Aggies' inconsistencies held them back from being a team that could've contended for something higher than an appearance in the Gator Bowl. 

The Aggies started the season 3-0 before dropping their first two SEC games. Then they took down none other than No. 1 Alabama, which was the first of a four-game win streak. 

But the inconsistencies arose, as A&M would lose two of its next three games to end the season. 

Still, the Aggies enter this fall ranked as the No. 6 team in the country. Jones is focused on the major expectations that come with this, but it's not easy to overlook the production he had last season, especially in a secondary that was full of current and potential future NFL talent.

His six passes defended were second-most on the team last season, while his two interceptions tied former Aggie Leon O'Neal Jr. for first. Jones also totaled 35 tackles.

Alongside him were Antonio Johnson and Demani Richardson, who are both in line to be selected in the 2023 NFL Draft. O'Neal Jr. went undrafted this past April and was recently waived by the 49ers, but his NFL talent could soon be recognized again by a new team. 

Jones, Richardson, and Johnson now have an even bigger increase in responsibility as the featured defensive backs for an A&M secondary that could be better this season. When considering that the Aggies allowed the third-fewest passing yards per game (192.7) in the conference last season, this could be a scary sight for the rest of the SEC West. 

Jones and the Aggies begin the season at home against the Sam Houston State Bearkats on Saturday, Sept. 3 at 11 a.m. C.T.

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You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7

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