Jones has Bears on solid ground
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Posted 1/31/2007 12:55 PM ET
By Mike Dodd
USA TODAY
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — If the drive had come in the fourth quarter, it would be touted as one for the ages. But occurring in the first half of the NFC Championship Game, it is merely a footnote to the Chicago Bears' 39-14 rout of the New Orleans Saints on Jan. 21.
But no three minutes capture running back Thomas Jones' value to the Bears more than Chicago's lone first-half touchdown drive. With quarterback Rex Grossman looking shaky (he completed three of his first 11 passes), Jones carried the ball on all eight plays, gaining all 69 yards in the drive and capping it with a 2-yard touchdown run with nearly two minutes to go in the half.
"That drive was just like a blur," Jones said. "The way it was happening, it was just bam, bam, bam. … You were just in a zone. You're not even paying attention. You just hear the play called in the huddle, and you're kind of just off in your own world. … You're just kind of floating."
The seventh-year pro from the University of Virginia didn't exactly float through 2006, but in the end he produced a solid season for his third consecutive year in Chicago. With 1,210 yards rushing, he became the first Bear to break the 1,000-yard mark in consecutive seasons since Neal Anderson did it three years in a row (1988-90). And his three-year total of 3,493 yards is the most for a Bear in a three-season span since Walter Payton.
Splitting time with Cedric Benson increasingly down the stretch, Jones ran for 125 fewer yards than he did in 2005 but feels "this season was actually a little better."
"This is the first time (since) I've been in the NFL where there have been maybe four or five games I didn't even play in the fourth quarter because of the score (Bears blowouts)," Jones says.
While neither Jones nor Benson views the current time-sharing setup as ideal personally, they recognize its value to the team. Each scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the championship game as the Bears pulled away from the Saints.
"We wore them down in the fourth quarter," Jones said. "They had to deal with two guys who were fresh. … It's hard to deal with that, especially with two backs that have different running styles like us."
Jones has rushed for 189 yards in two playoff games, averaging 4.7 yards a carry. His back-to-back two-touchdown outings marked the first time a player rushed for multiple touchdowns in consecutive playoff games in the same postseason since Denver's Terrell Davis in 1997.
A first-round draft choice (seventh overall) of the Cardinals in 2000, the 5-10, 215-pound Jones struggled through three disappointing seasons in Arizona and was traded to Tampa Bay before the 2003 season. After gaining a then-career-high 627 yards for the Buccaneers, the Bears signed him to a four-year, $10 million deal as a free agent.
"I was blessed enough to be picked by the Cardinals, but it just wasn't a good situation for me. When I went to Tampa Bay, I think, is when I really started to get back into the mode I had been before I went to Arizona," said Jones, whose brother Julius is a running back with the Dallas Cowboys.
"Coming here actually gave me an opportunity to be a leader that I've always been since I've been playing football — an emotional leader, vocal leader — and gave me an opportunity to lead by example," he added. "This has been the best situation that I could have been in. … It's a perfect situation for me."
It's unlikely Jones would have said that six months ago. He was demoted entering training camp after skipping the team's voluntary offseason workouts, presumably because he was unhappy with his contract. Then, on the first day of camp, he suffered a hamstring injury that sidelined him much of the preseason. But he came back to start all 16 regular-season games.
Through the summer, his teammates' support spoke volumes to the respect he has earned with his work on and off the field.
"The guy came back in (to camp) with arms as big as my legs," tackle Fred Miller said with a laugh. "Even though he was away from here, you know he was working hard in the offseason."
The work in the weight room is something the men up front relate to. "He's trying to get a body like an offensive lineman," Miller said. "Anytime you see a guy working hard to try to develop his talent and do the things necessary for you to win, all you can do is respect him."
Added Pro Bowl center Olin Kreutz: "Thomas is a great pro. He's a good guy in the locker room. He runs hard. He does all the right things."
Jones has consistently sidestepped discussing his offseason unhappiness, and now he's evading controversy as if it's a linebacker in the open field.
"At this point, I'm thinking about the Super Bowl … that's where all my focus is," he said when asked if he'll be content with sharing time with Benson next year, the final year of Jones' contract.
"My job is to play football. The management and the people upstairs … that's their job, to draft guys," Jones says. "I'm a self-motivated person. I want to be the best whenever I'm out there."
Jones rushed for 123 yards against the Saints; he and Benson combined for 183. If they can match that performance in Super Bowl XLI, the Bears' chance for victory improve dramatically.
"They have some great athletes on defense," Jones said of the Colts. "They have some fast guys on the defensive line, and their linebackers move around really well. … Their secondary guys can fill the holes. What I've seen is a lot of teams have kind of given up on the run in the second half."
It's unlikely the Bears will do that, unless they find themselves in a deep hole.
"We run the football. That's our thing," Jones said. "We're not going to change anything. We just do what we do best, and that's run the football."
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