Jones Runs Over and Around Bears

There was no tackling Aaron Jones, who put up some prodigious numbers for missed tackles and yards after contact in the Packers’ victory over the Bears.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – At 5-foot-9 and 208 pounds and with a full head of hair, nobody is ever going to confuse Aaron Jones for AJ Dillon, his 6-foot, 247-pound counterpart in the Green Bay Packers’ backfield.

But Jones ran with speed, vision and Dillon-like power during Green Bay’s 27-10 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday night at Lambeau Field. Jones carried 15 times for 132 yards (8.8 average) and one touchdown and added three receptions for 38 yards (12.7 average) and one more score.

Beyond the basic numbers, there’s this: According to our live tracking, Jones forced a career-high 12 missed tackles. On running plays, 92 yards came after contact with 11 missed tackles. On passing plays, 35 yards came after the catch with one more missed tackle.

“Stay slippery,” Jones said of the secret to his tackle-breaking success. “I think I have a knack for breaking tackles and knowing how to get tackled, like rolling with the tackle. Just being elusive and making the most out of every carry you get and not letting one person take you down. That’s our thing in the running back rule. We don’t think one person should be able to take you down in a one-on-one situation.”

It took a sloth of Bears to bring down Jones, who simply would not be denied. After last week’s loss to Minnesota, coach Matt LaFleur was kicking himself for not getting Jones more involved in the offense. So, LaFleur got Jones involved and Jones rewarded the coach with a robust performance.

“Aaron Jones, man, he was absolutely electric,” LaFleur said. “Every time I’d think he was going down, he’d somehow find a way to squirt his way through. And he’s just a hell of a competitor and he’s a guy that just embodies everything that you want in a football player: the way he works, how selfless he is, how he cheers for his teammates, how he supports his teammates.

“They don’t make many like this guy. He is one of a kind. We’re lucky to have a guy like that. It’s not a surprise to me that he was elected a captain, just the way he treats everybody in this building. So respectable, just works his ass off and he’s a hell of a player, too. He's a guy that obviously we have to get involved each and every week.”

Jones was a factor from the start. On the opening series, which resulted in a field goal, he carried the ball on the first two plays and had a third-down catch for a first down. Jones scored the second touchdown, an exquisitely blocked 15-yard run that made it 10-7. Jones scored the next touchdown, too, an 8-yard flip from Aaron Rodgers in which Dillon served as the lead blocker.

“AJ does it all,” Jones said. “He catches the ball. He can block. He was blocking their starting middle linebacker, Roquan (Smith) on that and he sprung me into the touchdown. That shows a lot. AJ cares about me. I care about him. We’ll lay it all out for each other.”

Green Bay extended the lead to 24-7 late in the first half. First, Jones had a 14-yard run in which he broke two tackles. One play later, it was a well-designed screen in which Jones broke another tackle for a gain of 15. On first-and-goal, Rodgers faked the handoff to Jones and fired a touchdown pass to Allen Lazard.

“He’s obviously a great running back,” Rodgers said. “Good vision, slasher. I think he’s way more elusive in and through contact than obviously you would guess. Bounces off a lot of tackles, got a really nice stiff-arm with both arms.”

On the third play of the second half, Jones broke into the open field for a 36-yard run in which he broke two tackles.

“We’re each other’s cheerleaders,” Dillon said. “I’m over there going, ‘Let’s goooo,’ screaming and saying things. We’ll have a little TV break and, whoever is out there, we’ll just help each other out and re-energize each other. We feed off that. I’m very thankful to share a backfield with him.”

With most of Week 2 in the book, Jones is sixth in the NFL with 181 rushing yards. By averaging “only” 8.8 yards per carry vs. Chicago, Jones’ two-game average tumbled to 9.0. That’s second among NFL running backs behind Detroit’s D’Andre Swift (10.0).

“It says a lot about our offense,” Jones said. “You know what’s coming, but you have to stop it. That’s not easy to do. I just say kudos to our whole offensive unit and our whole team for responding and bouncing back from last week.”