James Jones Doesn't Get It
Despite being plagued by dropped balls and a critical fumble this season, James Jones recently complained about his lack of opportunities.
A confluence of factors have led to increased media scrutiny on wide receiver James Jones this week.
This past weekend, he dropped a 40-some yard pass from Aaron Rodgers down the right sideline for what could have very easily been a 72-yard touchdown.
Had he caught the pass, he could have been a hero. He would have bailed out an offense that couldn't find the endzone against a tough Jets defense and has been struggling all season long.
Now with the franchise's all-time leading receiver, Donald Driver, ruled out for Sunday's game against the Dallas Cowboys, there's even more attention to see if the other wide receivers to step up in Driver's absence.
It would have been the perfect time for Jones to eat some humble pie and say how he let the team down and is working hard to atone for his mistakes, right?
Wrong.
Instead Jones stepped on his soapbox to complain about his lack of opportunities and spread the blame.
In an interview with Jason Wilde of ESPNMilwaukee.com, Jones had the following to say:
“Definitely I want to be more consistent. But more consistent also means more opportunities. If I can keep showing what I can do, then that’ll help me be more consistent.
“If I come out and have four catches for 107 yards like I did against Minnesota, and then come out the next game and have one ball thrown my way, then it looks like, ‘Shoot, he was good, then he was bad.’ But it’s not necessarily all me. Have I dropped a couple balls? Sure. I’m not going to say I’ve been playing flawless football. But it comes with opportunities, to be able to show what I can do.
“(The drop against the Jets) was all me. All me. Nobody else. I’ve got to make that play. That’s a must-make catch, man. When you get a chance, you have to take full advantage of it.”
Jones started off well, saying how he wants to be more consistent. Then he had to stick his foot in his mouth and talk about opportunities.
Players much younger than Jones know that when you blow the opportunities you do get, it's going to take that much longer to regain confidence from those around you. In the case of Jones, that goes for the quarterback that throws him the ball and the coaches who determine how often he sees the field.
It's not the first time Jones has displayed his maddeningly inconsistent tendencies this season, either. Go back to Week 3 when Green Bay traveled to division rival Chicago for nationally televised game on Monday Night Football. Jones' fourth-quarter fumble contributed to the Packers' 20-17 loss when he committed the sin of not cradling the ball in his outside arm, a technique taught back in grade school.
One week prior, he failed to make the most of his chances. According to the Associated Press:
Jones had seven passes thrown his way against Buffalo on Sept. 19, but only had three receptions for 32 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown. His fellow receivers needled him for not making the most of his opportunities. Twice he ran poor patterns that caused incompletions, including one when he caught the ball but came down out of bounds.
Go back to his rookie season in 2007, the year the Packers advanced to the NFC Championship game, and Jones again fumbled twice against the Bears in a 20-27 loss.
Yes, it was only the fifth game of his young career. But it also shows that Jones has yet to overcome to inconsistencies that drive observers batty three years later.
As head coach Mike McCarthy pointed out after the Bears game this season, when Jones failed to cash in, he took away the prospect of converting from one of the other playmakers on the team.
“You just need to spend five minutes in the meeting room to clearly understand that if you have an opportunity, you’d better cash in on it, because if you don’t, that means you’ve taken an opportunity away from Greg Jennings, Jermichael Finley, Donald Driver or somebody else in that room,” said McCarthy.
That Bears game was just a little other a month ago, and Jones seems to have a short memory. He needs to realize that even without Finley and Driver, there's options on the team other than himself and only one ball to go around. As far as go-to receivers, Jones is currently third on the totem pole behind Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson.
James Jones isn't a bad guy by any stretch of the imagination. Through his own foundation, he's granting wishes left and right to disadvantaged and underserved children over the course of this season.
But for whatever reason, Jones just can't seem to get over the hump. Maybe he doesn't learn from the past. And even if he does, he remains a model of inconsistency that has yet to show sign of turning it around.
Jones is a free agent a season's end, and it's possible the Packers would be best served by letting him walk away. If rules remain the same in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Packers could benefit in the form of a compensatory pick if they have more free agent losses than gains.
Unless Jones indicates he's a changed man both through his play and in the manner he handles himself with the media, the Packers may be better off allowing him to be inconsistent somewhere else.
Comments (60)
November 04, 2010 at 10:43 am
It is maddening, isn't it? To see a guy with all that talent who just can't find the mental discipline.
November 04, 2010 at 10:47 am
GREAT READ!
November 04, 2010 at 10:49 am
But what's the context of the comment, Brian? Is he a competitive guy (like any WR) and wants the ball more to prove he's capable? Or is he saying the lack of productivity isn't his fault?
Brian Carriveau
November 04, 2010 at 10:51 am
I personally think it comes off as self-righteous and selfish no matter what context I can possibly think of.
November 04, 2010 at 11:14 am
Agreed. You can't complain about a lack of opportunity in a game causing your own inconsistency. The game is not the time to become more consistent, that's what practice is for. The game is for execution. Without executing on the opportunities he's given, why should he expect more opportunities?
November 04, 2010 at 11:30 am
...especially when those opportunities are taking away from others executing correctly. This is something that worries me about Quarless too, though he hasn't shown quite the same attitude yet. In that game last weekend Q dropped an easy completion over the middle, sending what had been a wiiiide open Jennings hopping off the field in frustration. Should Rodgers have thrown to Jennings instead? Maybe, hard to say what he saw that play. But more to the point, should Rodgers be able to throw to any open target downfield and expect that the ball will be well received? Of course! We're lucky that there is strong leadership on the offensive side of the ball in Green Bay, this sort of production with the level of talent on the field has caused problems before. Jennings, Driver and Rodgers are clearly still in charge of that squad though, and I have to think Jones will be hearing from them soon.
November 04, 2010 at 01:20 pm
I was going to mention Quarless as well. I did not see Jennings' reactions but all the Packers fans in the stands were jumping up and down because this is like the 3rd or fourth big drop that Quarless has had.
Not many people are talking about this.
PackerAaron
November 04, 2010 at 01:48 pm
Tom, I know exactly which play you're talking about. I thought Jennings was hopping with frustration as well, but I think some of it was him jumping up and down because Q ALMOST caught the ball and then dropped it.
November 04, 2010 at 10:51 am
Yikes....maybe Jones doesn't realize that to be considered the best receiving corps in the league that you need to PLAY like the best receiving corps in the league.
I think someone clings to his own preseason hype a lil' too much. He has every opportunity ,with the subtraction of Finley and Driver from the line-up, to make some serious thunder on the field the rest of the way.
Jones needs to have someone close to him be real honest and point out his total lack of consistent production over he last 3.5 years.
He was supposed to be the heir apparent to Driver....now we are talking about letting him walk...
He really doesn't get it.
November 04, 2010 at 11:08 am
Unless he turns his season around I don't see TT bringing him back. TT loves drafting receivers and this would give him a reason to pick one in this years draft.
PackerAaron
November 04, 2010 at 11:19 am
I said this months ago - TT will draft a receiver in 2011. Just a question of which round.
November 04, 2010 at 12:20 pm
I agree and have been calling Jones out for some time. But I also agree with what he says. Look what happened when Bishop started getting some decent reps. Consistency. (At a high level.)
November 04, 2010 at 11:11 am
The fact that he is a FA at the end of the season and isn't PLAYING for his NEW garanteed contract,convinces me more than I'm already.Wasted time on a guy who doesn't get it and won't achieve it.
November 04, 2010 at 11:19 am
Prediction: If Jones drops a should-have-caught-it pass or fumbles early, we're going to get to see Brett Swain play A LOT! Jones looks great in pre-season and then inconsistent when it counts. Jones needs to follow the example of Bishop: look great in pre-season and then do it again and again and again once the regular season comes around. For some reason, I have a feeling that all Swain needs is a chance to play regularly. With Donald sidelined, Jones' inconsistency just may give Swain that opportunity and Swain may not give it back.
November 04, 2010 at 11:31 am
I like Swain..he looked pretty good in camp considerin he was coming off of a major injury...
He's also a pretty stout receiver..lacking in speed, but he seems to have some explosive moves that translate into extra yardage.
I hope he gets some touches against the 'girls.
PackerAaron
November 04, 2010 at 11:55 am
He had a sweet catch on Sunday as well. Got a first down, and would have had more if he hadn't lost his footing a little.
November 04, 2010 at 12:07 pm
He did. And, he leaves everything he has on the field. If I were MM I would have Swain on the field and Nelson and Jones watching on the bench for the first play this Sunday. Neither of of them deserve to start right now. MM can reify some of his accountability talk, it certainly helped the punting situation last time he did it.
November 04, 2010 at 12:45 pm
Why he can't return kicks or punts is beyond me. Heard he had some skill in college.
November 04, 2010 at 11:20 am
"(The drop against the Jets) was all me. All me. Nobody else."
Nobody else.
Whuh?
Who else could it be?
If I'm not mistaken, he said the same thing (or something very similar) about a critical fumble after a game several weeks ago.
I find it odd that he can admit culpability, yet sound disingenuous in the process.
November 04, 2010 at 11:21 am
Chastin West showed some skills during the preseason. Maybe not prime time yet though.
November 04, 2010 at 11:27 am
Admitting to a drop or a fumble is easy and can't be denied by him.What he isn't getting is the fumble lost the game and his drop could have lost another.
He represents the letter"I" in team that isn't there and neither should he.
November 04, 2010 at 11:31 am
To tell the truth, I've been more impressed with Jordy Nelson. I wish they would give him additional opportunities not Jones.
November 04, 2010 at 11:31 am
Does he not realize that if he doesn't fumble against the Bears and cuts down on his high number of drops that he'll get more opportunities? When you fumble the ball at a crucial point in the game against the Bears and then drop numerous balls week in and week out then you're not going to get the opportunities. Aaron Rodgers isn't going to continually throw the ball his way if he can't trust him to catch and hold onto the ball.
He's lucky Mike Holmgren isn't the Packers coach right now. Because Holmgren would bury his ass on the depth chart like he did to Bill Schroeder for cutting off routes, taking stupid penalites, and dropping the ball.
November 04, 2010 at 01:39 pm
Man, sometimes I miss Mike.
November 04, 2010 at 11:34 am
When I google:
"James Jones Wonderlic score"
I'm seeing a player that scored a "9" -- which is very low, even for the NFL.
November 04, 2010 at 11:52 am
LOL Good one!
November 04, 2010 at 12:28 pm
A score of ten is barely literate by the way. Scoring nine just proves you can fill in ovals with a pencil on a sheet of paper.
November 04, 2010 at 09:02 pm
Have you ever seen him on In the Huddle? He does a segment called "In the House" where he visits a fellow player's home. It is embarrassing.
November 04, 2010 at 11:36 am
I suggested TT drafting a WR last year. Jordy Nelson and Jones are "fine". But they're not elite receivers. Jennings is not even an elite receiver. We do not have an elite receiving corps the way some suggest. People used to suggest that our 3rd and 4th receivers could start on other teams. Do you still believe that?
Thompson went in the right direction drafting who he did but we still needed to draft high on the offensive side. Im sure that will be an emphasis this year.
November 04, 2010 at 11:38 am
Two points to clear up before the attacks. Jennings is very good. Jordy Nelson can potentially follow the same path the Jennings took. But without Finley we clearly do not have a gamechanging guy on our perimeter.
November 04, 2010 at 11:39 am
Both would be starters on every team in the NFC North, South and West...East you can debate. The overall skill set/aptitude of all four (4) wideouts is among the best in the league, it's their consistancy that's lacking.
November 04, 2010 at 11:44 am
Consistency is a factor that determines starting material. Clearly consistency is an issue throughout the NFL this year though so I guess technically they'd fit in somewhere this year.
November 04, 2010 at 01:44 pm
Inconsistent is just a nice way of saying "often bad."
November 04, 2010 at 11:38 am
I've just lost faith in him. I don't remember he EVER catching a ball over the middle, except for that first time where he took a hit and kept on running in his rookie year.
He is afraid of contact, and that leads to inconsistency. Too bad, because he's very gifted. And it's not that he's soft, because you see him in the sidelines cheering people up, and getting pumped. He just doesn't catch in traffic.
But I think the coaches and Rodgers have also lost faith in him, with his comments, and everybody else's comments.
Maybe I'm wrong, I hope I'm wrong...
November 04, 2010 at 11:41 am
I'm strongly leaning towards this ^^^. Think we'll find out how much faith Rodgers et al have in Jones shortly. Any inconsistancy or costly mistakes in the Cowboy's game and you have to believe there's serious internal doubt about the kid.
November 04, 2010 at 11:46 am
I heard murmors about their doubt after the Chicago game. There's got to be internal debate on him already.
November 04, 2010 at 11:47 am
Hell, there was apparently serious internal debate over Grant last year midway through even though he ended up with a 1200 yard season
November 04, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Count me among the minority--I'm still a believer in James Jones. The fumble in Chicago and the drop in NY were painful, no doubt about it, but the guy has shown flashes of very sticky hands, good speed and elusiveness. I guess the word would be "inconsistent" and I think that also has something to do with injuries he's faced.
But with Finley gone and Driver banged up, the time is now for James Jones. The rest of the year will be very telling. Step up, get open, make catches, and make plays. The fumble and the drop are in the past. Move forward.
November 04, 2010 at 12:08 pm
I was surprised to learn that Jones only was targetted once against the Jets. Maybe he should have GOTTEN OPEN more. Defenses are settling into a cover scheme against the Pack, and its worked. When Rex Ryan stops blitzing you, something is up. Teams are happy to give Rodgers time to throw it away or force it. Swain should be in there, just to make picks ala Anthony Gonzalez of the Colts.
November 04, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Tarynfor12 has a good point about playing for a contract. On top of that, this team needs somebody to step up and prove they could be a #2 receiver to replace Driver. And not only because of his current injury, but DD isn't going to play forever. As much as I love the guy, his current injury situation is making me nervous about his long-term viability. I hope he plays for 5 more years. But he might not.
Jones should have his eyes on a new contract and hopefully a #2 WR role with a very good football team and an excellent QB. Instead he's complaining about opportunities? Very disappointing.
November 04, 2010 at 01:39 pm
We need to draft a speed receiver. None of our receivers are that fast. We need a desean jackson type with break away speed, not another possession guy in the upcoming draft.
November 04, 2010 at 01:02 pm
I'd love to rewatch them gametape but off the top of my head I'm calling bullshit on Jones saying he had only one ball thrown his way. From memory he dropped at least a couple passes. According to this
http://www.fftoday.com/stats/playerprofile.php?PlayerID=2780&LeagueID=1
he was targeted FIVE times.
November 04, 2010 at 01:39 pm
Remember when he was upset when Nelson was drafted? "What do we need another receiver for?". Meaning - I'm good.
PackerAaron
November 04, 2010 at 01:45 pm
I was thinking about that just the other day. Wasn't he at the Lambeau draft party signing stuff? And he said that right out in the open? Not smart.
Brian Carriveau
November 04, 2010 at 02:01 pm
Yes, I was the one who reported that.
November 04, 2010 at 01:47 pm
Like wide-receivers don't drop passes ...... All Jones has to do is put up some numbers & a highlight reel catch of some sort & the masses will move on to the next most logical player to bash, whoever that may be .....
Expectations versus reality ..... Jones has always been inconsistent & now that's suddenly going to change ?? ..... Just like Jordy Nelson gallops on the field like an old 'plow horse' ...... That's not going to change either.
November 04, 2010 at 01:50 pm
I don't like his attitude. He's consistently shown himself to be a selfish player. As the #3, he's the heir apparent to DD. Unfortunately, not only has his play on the field been undisciplined, but he's also showing himself to be the polar opposite of the kind of veteran leadership and selflessness that Driver has brought to the team.
I know a rookie or second year guy isn't going to be able to exactly fill that role when Driver retires, but unless JJ makes a big turn around I don't see the point in spending money on him next year, especially considering how well TT drafts receivers.
November 04, 2010 at 01:51 pm
when i read teh qoute... it sounded like he accepted blame for his drops.. but wants the ball thrown his way more in order to amke up for the mistakes... which kind of makes sense...
obviously you need to get thrown to more often if your going to be able to negate the negative plays you have
overall i like james jones... fixing his route running and his fumble problems should be things the coaches can fix easily... and everyone drops passes... jones just tends to drop big ones ahaha
he is still really young tho.. and he is only the 3rd wide out...
November 04, 2010 at 02:13 pm
All this talk of opportunities with James Jones makes me this of the Pet Shop boys song
"Oh, there's a lot of opportunities
If you know when to take them, you know?
There's a lot of opportunities
If there aren't, you can make them
Make or break them"
Spotlights on you James come Sunday night. Make the most of it kid.
PackerAaron
November 04, 2010 at 02:20 pm
Plus muthafuckin' 1!
November 04, 2010 at 02:17 pm
What hump is Jones failing to get over? Maybe he is what he appears to be - a pretty decent backup wide receiver.
November 04, 2010 at 04:01 pm
I hope he goes off for 6/112 and a TD...then he just can have the next week to be inconsistent.
November 04, 2010 at 10:14 pm
I agree completely. Any fan who's been following the packers had to be shaking their head, not at all surprised when Jones dropped that pass. As Jason Wilde puts it, He's consistently inconsistent. He stats on efficiency of balls thrown his way, drops, and fumbles are not good enough to merit an extension.
We've been saying for a while now, "Who is the no. 3 WR?" or "Who will be the heir to Donald Driver?". Jones has had a shot at both this year and he is far from taking advantage of it. To Jones' credit the season doesn't end today, but he's just proving reliable enough to invest in an extension.
It's time to start thinking about drafting a WR in the first part of the draft again. The first round is deep with WR talent this year. I'm not saying we're going to get AJ Green, just that other talent will be pushed back in our range.
November 04, 2010 at 10:16 pm
** he's proving he's not reliable enough for an extension.
November 05, 2010 at 12:13 am
i think if jones doesnt expect a lot of money he will get an extension... i think he is a decent 3rd or 4th wideout.. why not keep him around if he doesnt get greedy?... but i actually believe nelson is the answer as to who will be our new possession wideout when driver leaves
November 04, 2010 at 11:37 pm
jones will be great this week and then suck against the viqueens. that's how he rolls.
November 05, 2010 at 06:13 am
This may be the root of Jones's problem: http://bit.ly/Uct25
November 05, 2010 at 09:18 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU3bnvChBzU&feature=related
November 06, 2010 at 12:29 pm
If anyone sees the James Jones in this video will they tell him he needs to show up. Opportunity knocks Mr. Jones. Let's answer the door.
November 07, 2010 at 04:37 pm
First off, great show and website. That being said I don't get all the hating on James Jones. The comment he made wasn't the smartest thing to say after a performance like he had, but like any competitor he still wants the ball. We'll can judge him on his performances, but this is just a guy who wants the ball, I can't blame him for that.