Josh Jones Will Return This Week, But In What Role?

Green Bay Packers second-year safety Josh Jones hasn’t played yet this season due to an ankle injury. That will change this week.

“I’ll be back next week – 100 percent. For sure I’ll be back next week. I’m feeling good. The ankle’s good,” Jones said on Clubhouse Live. “Rehab went pretty well. So I’ll be back full-go. They’ll probably ease me into it. We’ll see how it goes. But I’ll for sure play next Sunday (against Washington) and go from there.”

The question is what role will Jones play? As a rookie, Jones played extensively, getting more than 70 percent of the defensive snaps. However, that isn’t to say he played well.

He didn’t.

Blown assignments dominated Jones’ rookie year.

This year, most of us expected Jones would start alongside Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, but he quickly fell behind Kentrell Brice on the depth chart. Thing is, Brice hasn’t played well.

You could argue that backup Jermaine Whitehead has played better than Brice.

That would seem to create another opportunity for Jones. He was a second-round pick and got plenty of experience in year one. Of course, he’ll have to improve upon his rookie performance.

Surely, the Packers will slowly integrate him back into the defense. Jones admitted that after being out for three weeks, he’s not in football shape.

He’s still an intriguing prospect, however. Strong and athletic, fast enough to cover. Jones can play in the box or deep.

He just needs to eliminate the mental mistakes that plagued him last year.