Matthew Coller: Aaron Jones's return was (almost) everything he could've wanted

Jones didn't get his Lambeau Leap but came out with a strong performance and a win.

Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones (33) runs for a gain against the Green Bay Packers during their football game Sunday, September 29, 2024, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. / Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY — You can’t really call Aaron Jones’s return to Lambeau Field a “revenge game,” even if Jones was shocked that the team let him go last offseason and he was highly motivated to put on a show against the Packers. There was simply too much appreciation shown from the folks in his former stomping grounds to feel vengeful.

Jones’s mom told him that there were billboards in town welcoming him back and when he ran out onto the field, the veteran running back was met with a huge ovation.

He tried to avoid the emotions of his return to the place where he spent 2017-2023 but that was impossible when he saw his mom before the game.

“I kind of just kind of tried to block it out,” Jones said. “It kind of hit me a little when I see my mom on the sideline. She was the one kind of tearing up and I'm like, ‘great, mom.’”

It was particularly special to Jones because he was so active in the Green Bay community. He was nominated as the Walter Payton Man of the Year for the Packers multiple times, hosting camps, donating shoes, bikes and food to children and creating a video series for children whose parents were deployed in the military.

“One day they're gonna forget about you in this football world say 100 years from now, 200 years, they're gonna have other players you they're not even gonna know your name but it's the stamp that you leave in the community and what you do off the field that people remember your legacy,” Jones said.

In the present, everyone will remember what Jones did on the field on Sunday. Against his former team, he ran the ball 22 times for 93 yards, caught four passes for 46 yards and laid a key block in pass protection late in the game on a first down throw to Justin Jefferson.

He did not, however, get his Lambeau Leap. At the goal line the Vikings used Jones as a decoy, running a play-action touchdown pass to Josh Oliver, a reverse to Jordan Addison and another (failed) reverse to Jalen Nailor.

Before he left the field, Jones still did a leap, only he jumped into Vikings fans who were cheering for him.

“I did get my leap, it was kind of funny because as we were taking that last knee, the Packers defense, they're like, ‘Ah, We didn't let you Lambo Leap here. We didn't let you Lambo Leap in our house,” Jones said. “And I'm like, you guys are worried about me Lambo Leaping. You guys should be worried about the score. I came here and got what I wanted. But I did get my Lambo leap in. So I got a two for one. Just didn't score, but I still got the Lambo Leap. So it was special.”

The Vikings have now leaped out to a 4-0 start to the season. With the dust settled on Week 4, Jones ranks eighth in the NFL in rushing and is averaging 5.0 yards per carry. The Vikings are in the top half of the NFL in rushing, which is an enormous upgrade from the last two seasons. Jones said after the game that he believed coming to Minnesota that the team could be this good because of the other weapons and getting the win reaffirmed that he made the right choice.

“I felt it the most after when the clock hit zero,” Jones said. “Coming in here to get one job done, and that was to win this game. Being back here meant a lot to me.”

“It's been a blessing to be a Minnesota Viking and I feel like I made the best decision.”

It hasn’t just been the other players around Jones that have made him feel at home in Minnesota but head coach Kevin O’Connell as well.

“KOC, he's been everything to me,” Jones said. “He's helped me so much in my short time here and I'm glad I made the decision to come here. He's definitely a special coach.”

Of course, Jones knows that winning at Lambeau now raises the bar for Vikings expectations.

“I think this team is really good,” Jones said. “We believe in ourselves, so just continue to do that.”