Keeping Up with the Joneses — Sidney Enjoyed a Career Boost

Just up the road from the successful Super Bowl run orchestrated by Tom Brady and all of his Tampa friends, Sidney Jones posted his own victory in Florida.

Two hundred miles north in Jacksonville, the former University of Washington cornerback enjoyed an NFL career renaissance.

Jones hasn't completely exorcised himself of all of his injury demons, but he got back on the field for a lengthy time and showed off the coverage skills that made draft analysts once label call him an elite player.

For nine games for the feeble 1-15 Jaguars, he intercepted a couple of passes, defended against nine others, forced a fumble and took part in 26 tackles.

Jones did this on the rebound after getting cut by the Philadelphia Eagles on the eve of the season.

He did this before his bothersome Achilles heel flared up on him once more and ended his season.

But what happened between those two personal hashmarks was enough to leave this one-time Husky defensive back greatly encouraged.

"Revival's in the air," Jones recently tweeted.

🔒🔒🔒 https://t.co/PRJtDLvxZp
— Sidney Jones IV (@SidneyJonesIV) February 10, 2021

It was nearly four years ago, when Jones, a projected first-rounder, tore his Achilles heel during the UW Pro Day. Budda Baker, now with the Arizona Cardinals, immediately ran to his side. Then Husky coach Chris Petersen helped him off the field.

With one fateful foot plant, everything changed for the talented corner that day. He slipped to a second-round draft pick for the Philadelphia Eagles. He spent much of the 2017 season recovering from the mishap, and appeared in just one game as an NFL rookie.

After two abbreviated seasons there, Jones was handed his walking papers by the Eagles six months ago and he signed with Jacksonville.

In his third game with the Jaguars, he intercepted a Deshaun Watson pass and broke up another that led to a teammate's interception in a 30-14 defeat to the Houston Texans on the road.

A month later, Jones stole an Aaron Rodgers pass in a 24-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers, also on the road.

The Jaguars seemed pleased with Jones and his productivity before he landed on injured reserve after Week 14 to close the season.

A month into the season, he had the highest grade for an NFL corner at 91.9, according to Pro Football Focus.

"He's getting his hands on balls," said Todd Walsh, the Jacksonville defensive coordinator. "I think he's being disruptive. He's really doing a nice job in man coverage and getting disruption at the line of scrimmage. ... Hopefully he's going to be a Jaguar for a while."

REVIVAL’S IN THE AIR 🙏🏾
— Sidney Jones IV (@SidneyJonesIV) February 4, 2021

With Urban Meyer taking over at Jacksonville, Jones' future with the franchise is uncertain at best, as it is for most of his teammates, with a roster housecleaning a sure thing. He's a free agent on top of that after playing on a one-year contract.

At the same, Jaguars analysts put an A- grade on the team's free-agent signing of Jones.

If Meyer chooses to go in another direction, or if Jones chooses to go elsewhere, the cornerback likely has done more than enough to find another NFL job. Either way, Florida was good for him.

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