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Running back is seeing the game more clearly this season with Cowboys
01:47 AM CDT on Sunday, October 22, 2006
By TODD ARCHER / The Dallas Morning News
IRVING – Look at Julius Jones' eyes, not his legs. They dart from left to right, back to front. A mental picture is taken before the snap.
He knows where every Houston defensive lineman is. He sees the linebackers staring back at him. He knows the cornerbacks are playing press coverage on the Cowboys' receivers. At the last moment before the snap, he sees safety C.C. Brown move deeper to the middle of the field.
As Jones takes the handoff, the pile of 300-pounders punishing other 300-pounders becomes a blur. He doesn't so much see N.D. Kalu flash past him, along with left guard Kyle Kosier, as sense it.
Jones' eyes are focused down the field, at Texans middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans, who took two steps to the right and is now easily pinned by Andre Gurode.
By the time Jason Babin brings him down with an ankle tackle, Jones has picked up 11 yards.
The play, the Cowboys' first in their 34-6 win last Sunday, took a little more than four seconds.
"He's running with his eyes," Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said of Jones. "He's not just running on instinct. He's more patient. He's bursting at the right time. He's not conceding runs. He looks like a much more experienced back."
Jones finished with 106 yards on 22 carries, his third straight game with at least 100 yards, yet Parcells did not believe he ran particularly well against the Texans.
Parcells' expectations for Jones are high, but his expectations have been high for all of his running backs, from Joe Morris and Ottis Anderson with the New York Giants to Curtis Martin in New England and with the New York Jets.
Through five games, Jones has 494 yards on 108 carries. He is on pace for 1,581 yards, which would be the fourth-best season total in team history. Only Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett, who had 1,646 yards in 1981, and the NFL's all-time leading rusher, Emmitt Smith, who topped 1,700 yards twice (1992, 1995) had better seasons.
Jones is reaching the heights expected of him after he salvaged a disappointing rookie season in 2004 with 803 yards in the last seven games, a finish that led many to believe he would be the Cowboys' next great running back. But it hasn't been easy for Jones.
Patience a virtue
It was not easy growing up in Big Stone Gap, Va., where his brother, Thomas, who now plays for the Chicago Bears, set records. It wasn't easy at Notre Dame, where he was dismissed from school for academic reasons but returned a year later as a fifth-year senior. And it hasn't been easy all the time with the Cowboys, either, because of rib, shoulder and ankle injuries.
"He's learning his ABCs," Parcells said. "But it's hard to make yourself do it. Your instincts tell you what's in conflict with what your discipline should tell you.
"Once you get down the road experience-wise, then you've got yourself a helluva back when he can start doing all those things. That's what Curt could do when he was about four or five years into the league. He had it."
Jones is finally getting it.
Parcells likes to tell Curtis Martin stories. He has a thousand of them, if not more. But one – when Martin ran smack into a defender in the hole – always comes up when Parcells discusses Martin.
As Martin came to the sideline, Parcells gave him a quizzical look and Martin knew what the coach wanted to know. Said a dazed Martin: "Coach, I never saw him."
Jones is no longer taking the big hits he took in his first two seasons. He is setting up his blockers better by luring would-be tacklers to one side and cutting back. He also is running through defenders and making yards after contact.
"He knows if he gives it enough time it's going to be there, and he hits it," right guard Marco Rivera said. "That's a sign of a running back coming into his own. I saw that with Ahman Green. When he got to Green Bay, he was rushing things, but then he learned to settle down and wait for his blocks."
There is a fine line between being patient and being late. Kansas City's Larry Johnson found the perfect blend last season, finishing with 1,750 rushing yards despite starting in only nine games.
Smith's best asset, according to Parcells, was patience.
"He trusted the play," Parcells said. "He was going to the right place most of the time and following the design of the play.
"The plays they were running when Emmitt was here were very simple and few in number, and he knew them well. [He also knew] all the possibilities of the plays."
Becoming more aware
On Monday, Parcells met briefly with Jones to have him look at tape of Giants running back Tiki Barber's 185-yard performance last week at Atlanta.
Barber leads the NFL with 533 yards, and only Barber (106.6) and Atlanta's Warrick Dunn (102.2) average more yards per game than Jones (98.8).
Barber and Giants defensive end Michael Strahan said they see Barber when they watch Jones run. Standing seven yards deep in the backfield, Barber says he'll act like quarterback Eli Manning, so that if a play is changed he is ready.
"After I get the ball, it's, 'How can I set up this linebacker or safety or whatever so I have the best advantage to get by him?'" Barber said. "Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. But that's what goes through my mind with every snap. And it happens in a split second because it's not something you can consciously think about."
Despite his early-season success, Jones has been relatively quiet. He talks after games, but during the week he is as elusive in the locker room as he is on the field.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has seen the evolution of a running back before.
Smith ran for 937 yards and averaged 3.9 yards per carry as a rookie in 1990. The next season, Smith ran for 1,563 yards and averaged 4.3 yards per carry.
"With Emmitt, it just seemed he became more aware," Jones said. "With Julius, he's now had the experience that you can see he can be somebody. Somebody might be able to mislead you with a couple of games or a preseason.
"He's now been here some time, two or three training camps, three seasons, fought through injuries – and, boy, you would love to draft somebody with all that under his belt already. But we know a lot more today that [in Jones] you have got a top NFL running back."
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01:47 AM CDT on Sunday, October 22, 2006
By TODD ARCHER / The Dallas Morning News
IRVING – Look at Julius Jones' eyes, not his legs. They dart from left to right, back to front. A mental picture is taken before the snap.
He knows where every Houston defensive lineman is. He sees the linebackers staring back at him. He knows the cornerbacks are playing press coverage on the Cowboys' receivers. At the last moment before the snap, he sees safety C.C. Brown move deeper to the middle of the field.
As Jones takes the handoff, the pile of 300-pounders punishing other 300-pounders becomes a blur. He doesn't so much see N.D. Kalu flash past him, along with left guard Kyle Kosier, as sense it.
Jones' eyes are focused down the field, at Texans middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans, who took two steps to the right and is now easily pinned by Andre Gurode.
By the time Jason Babin brings him down with an ankle tackle, Jones has picked up 11 yards.
The play, the Cowboys' first in their 34-6 win last Sunday, took a little more than four seconds.
"He's running with his eyes," Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said of Jones. "He's not just running on instinct. He's more patient. He's bursting at the right time. He's not conceding runs. He looks like a much more experienced back."
Jones finished with 106 yards on 22 carries, his third straight game with at least 100 yards, yet Parcells did not believe he ran particularly well against the Texans.
Parcells' expectations for Jones are high, but his expectations have been high for all of his running backs, from Joe Morris and Ottis Anderson with the New York Giants to Curtis Martin in New England and with the New York Jets.
Through five games, Jones has 494 yards on 108 carries. He is on pace for 1,581 yards, which would be the fourth-best season total in team history. Only Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett, who had 1,646 yards in 1981, and the NFL's all-time leading rusher, Emmitt Smith, who topped 1,700 yards twice (1992, 1995) had better seasons.
Jones is reaching the heights expected of him after he salvaged a disappointing rookie season in 2004 with 803 yards in the last seven games, a finish that led many to believe he would be the Cowboys' next great running back. But it hasn't been easy for Jones.
Patience a virtue
It was not easy growing up in Big Stone Gap, Va., where his brother, Thomas, who now plays for the Chicago Bears, set records. It wasn't easy at Notre Dame, where he was dismissed from school for academic reasons but returned a year later as a fifth-year senior. And it hasn't been easy all the time with the Cowboys, either, because of rib, shoulder and ankle injuries.
"He's learning his ABCs," Parcells said. "But it's hard to make yourself do it. Your instincts tell you what's in conflict with what your discipline should tell you.
"Once you get down the road experience-wise, then you've got yourself a helluva back when he can start doing all those things. That's what Curt could do when he was about four or five years into the league. He had it."
Jones is finally getting it.
Parcells likes to tell Curtis Martin stories. He has a thousand of them, if not more. But one – when Martin ran smack into a defender in the hole – always comes up when Parcells discusses Martin.
As Martin came to the sideline, Parcells gave him a quizzical look and Martin knew what the coach wanted to know. Said a dazed Martin: "Coach, I never saw him."
Jones is no longer taking the big hits he took in his first two seasons. He is setting up his blockers better by luring would-be tacklers to one side and cutting back. He also is running through defenders and making yards after contact.
"He knows if he gives it enough time it's going to be there, and he hits it," right guard Marco Rivera said. "That's a sign of a running back coming into his own. I saw that with Ahman Green. When he got to Green Bay, he was rushing things, but then he learned to settle down and wait for his blocks."
There is a fine line between being patient and being late. Kansas City's Larry Johnson found the perfect blend last season, finishing with 1,750 rushing yards despite starting in only nine games.
Smith's best asset, according to Parcells, was patience.
"He trusted the play," Parcells said. "He was going to the right place most of the time and following the design of the play.
"The plays they were running when Emmitt was here were very simple and few in number, and he knew them well. [He also knew] all the possibilities of the plays."
Becoming more aware
On Monday, Parcells met briefly with Jones to have him look at tape of Giants running back Tiki Barber's 185-yard performance last week at Atlanta.
Barber leads the NFL with 533 yards, and only Barber (106.6) and Atlanta's Warrick Dunn (102.2) average more yards per game than Jones (98.8).
Barber and Giants defensive end Michael Strahan said they see Barber when they watch Jones run. Standing seven yards deep in the backfield, Barber says he'll act like quarterback Eli Manning, so that if a play is changed he is ready.
"After I get the ball, it's, 'How can I set up this linebacker or safety or whatever so I have the best advantage to get by him?'" Barber said. "Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. But that's what goes through my mind with every snap. And it happens in a split second because it's not something you can consciously think about."
Despite his early-season success, Jones has been relatively quiet. He talks after games, but during the week he is as elusive in the locker room as he is on the field.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has seen the evolution of a running back before.
Smith ran for 937 yards and averaged 3.9 yards per carry as a rookie in 1990. The next season, Smith ran for 1,563 yards and averaged 4.3 yards per carry.
"With Emmitt, it just seemed he became more aware," Jones said. "With Julius, he's now had the experience that you can see he can be somebody. Somebody might be able to mislead you with a couple of games or a preseason.
"He's now been here some time, two or three training camps, three seasons, fought through injuries – and, boy, you would love to draft somebody with all that under his belt already. But we know a lot more today that [in Jones] you have got a top NFL running back."
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