Heartbeat of Packers: Aaron Jones’ Impact Goes Beyond Box Score
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Aaron Jones is back.
Not officially, but Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekusnt did not mince words when asked if Jones would return for the 2024 season.
"Yeah, absolutely. We’d love to have Aaron back," Gutekunst said during Thursday’s season-ending news conference.
Gutekunst would couch his statement with some qualifiers, but the look on his face said everything that needed to be known.
Keeping a running back that is aging and expensive does not fit the modern way of thinking. It has become a position that is seen as easily replaceable for a variety of reasons.
A player like Jones, who will turn 30 next December, is looked at like a dinosaur.
On a team like the Packers, who have leaned into youth through the entire roster, it would be easy to envision them looking to continue the youth movement in the backfield.
One thing that became clear throughout the 2023 season was that Jones was much more than just a replaceable position or a large salary cap number.
Yes, those things matter. With a 24/7 news cycle, fan interest is higher than ever on things such as playing the role of general manager.
That can cause players as important as Jones to be looked at through the lens of the cap number he brings instead of all the ways he impacts the team.
Jones certainly impacts the team in more ways than just his production on the field.
"He changed a lot of the way we operated when he was in there and when he was healthy,” Gutekunst said. “I think for us, it’s finding a way to keep him out there and keep him healthy. Not only on the field but, and you guys know this, you guys have been around here, he’s such an influential leader in our locker room."
All of the above points are true. Jones was one of the faces of the team as it faced a transition period with veteran leadership, including the face of the franchise, Aaron Rodgers, being traded after a disappointing 2022 season.
Jones was at the forefront of everything during that transition.
Gutekunst and the rest of the team noticed and made a significant comment about just how important Jones was and is to the team.
"He’s just really the heartbeat of our team," Gutekunst said.
That's not just a throwaway line. That's not just a nice thing to say. It's not an exaggeration.
For an NFL general manager to say something like that about a player, it carries weight with the rest of the team.
It's a line that does not come without merit.
The above clip came from Green Bay's 48-32 win over the Dallas Cowboys in a wild-card playoff game. Jones was one of the stars of the show, as he often is when the Packers play in Dallas.
Jones set the tone early and finished the Cowboys off late.
Later in the game, rookie receiver Jayden Reed approached Jones and told him something that demonstrates Gutekunst's comments of Jones being the “heartbeat” of the team.
"You're the reason I go hard, bro," Reed said. "You somebody to look up to. You somebody to play for. I want to go out there and block for you. I feel f****d up when I don't make the block."
Reed was a rookie receiver in the middle of a game in which he’d finish with zero receptions. Comments like those, made in the heat of the moment, resemble the way teammates used to talk about Charles Woodson or Julius Peppers when they were in Green Bay.
Those sentiments were talked about throughout the locker room during the season, not just as the Packers were experiencing the high points of their season.
The Packers were 3-6 when Jones suffered a knee injury that looked like it might end his season. The Packers rallied to win behind Jordan Love’s late touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs.
After the game, receiver Christian Watson talked about how Jones helped inspire them to a comeback victory.
“It’s definitely tough,” Watson said. “Regardless of the player he is, just the leader he is, the man, we need him in that huddle. We need him on that sideline, so it’s definitely tough to see him go down.
“I told him as soon as he was walking off, we’re going to get it done for him, and I think everybody felt that way, regardless of if they said it or not. I think everybody wanted to get that one done for him and we’re always in his corner.”
Like Watson and the rest of the team that day, Gutekunst is in his corner.
Gutekunst understands that this allegedly over-the-hill running back's value extends far beyond what can be quantified on a spreadsheet.
Without Jones, this team has no heartbeat. Teams without a heartbeat end up lifeless when it comes time for postseason play.
