Jones Rushes Past 5,000-Yard Milestone

Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones made some history on Sunday at the Chicago Bears.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones topped 5,000 career rushing yards during Sunday’s game at the Chicago Bears.

More history is ahead.

Entering the day, Jones had rushed for 4,984 yards in his six NFL seasons. That meant he needed 16 yards to reach 5,000 and 41 yards to pass John Brockington (5,024) for No. 3 on the franchise’s all-time list.

Jones reached 5,000 yards late in the second quarter. After briefly leaving the game because of a shin injury, Jones had back-to-back carries of 11 and 7 yards. Typical of Jones, he turned something into something more with 11 yards after contact on those runs. That gave him 5,006 yards.

Here was the top five at the start of the game:

1. Ahman Green, 8,322

2. Jim Taylor, 8,207 (Hall of Fame)

3. John Brockington, 5,024

4. Aaron Jones, 4,984

5. Tony Canadeo, 4,197 (Hall of Fame)

While Green Bay’s offense has sputtered throughout the season, a major reason for the team’s 4-8 predicament, Jones has been tremendous. He entered the game ranked eighth in the NFL with 821 rushing yards and 10th with a 5.30-yard average. With a pace for 1,163 rushing yards, Jones was on track for the best season of his career.

“Just being around the guy, you just see every day how big of a team guy he is,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said last week. “He’ll play any role necessary to help the team. But being around him for one year, you’ll see that, what a great guy he is, what a great team guy he is, and just how explosive he is when he gets the ball in his hands. He’s a fun player to have on your team, for sure.”

Explosive has been Jones’ claim to fame. A total of 148 players in NFL history have reached 5,000 rushing yards. On that list, Jones ranks fifth all-time with 5.10 yards per carry. Who’s ahead of him? Quarterback Michael Vick (7.0) and running backs Jamaal Charles (5.4), Nick Chubb (5.3) and Hall of Famer Jim Brown (5.2).

Jones entered the NFL’s Week 13 slate tied for first with three games of 130-plus rushing yards. Among running backs with at least 70 carries, Jones ranked sixth with a 5.10-yard average and eighth with 22 carries of 10-plus yards.

While ranking 13th with 155 carries, he’s fifth with 45 forced missed tackles, according to Pro Football Focus. That’s only two less than Tennessee’s Derrick Henry, who has 92 more carries and about 40 more pounds.

The Packers are 3-1 when Jones tops 100 rushing yards. Otherwise, they’re 1-7 with Jones failing to reach 65 rushing yards in those games.

“Control what you can control at this point,” Jones said of the team’s predicament. “You can’t control the five games (left after this), or who’s playing in those five games, or what’s going to happen. You can control what’s going to happen in this game. That’s where all your focus needs to be at. If you take care of one game at a time, it’ll all take care of itself.”