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Paul Gutierrez, ESPN Staff Writer
HENDERSON, Nev. — It was a decidedly slimmed-down Chandler Jones who arrived for the Las Vegas Raiders‘ offseason program this spring, the result of not being able to lift weights as he rehabbed from the left elbow injury he suffered on Christmas Eve that ended his season with two games to play.
The good news? He did not require surgery.
“I’m little lighter this year, I feel a little faster, a little bit stronger, but I’m just trying to perfect my craft,” the 11-year veteran edge rusher said during voluntary OTAs.
“As I was rehabbing, I kind of took my time, as opposed to just jumping into weights and trying to gain muscle right away. So, got back healthy, then I started working out, lifting, and that’s where I am. I’m kind of just building muscle right now. So, you kind of just shed the leaves off the tree and then [start] growing them back on.”
When Jones went down — the injury was so painful he had to be carted to the locker room from the sidelines — he had been playing his best football in an otherwise forgettable first season with the Raiders after signing a three-year, $51 million free agent contract.
Four of Jones’ 4.5 sacks had come in the three games before the injury, and he had that unlikely 48-yard walk-off touchdown as time expired against the New England Patriots — when now-teammate Jakobi Meyers inexplicably lateraled the ball to him — a week before the injury.
“I gave him a little smirk, that’s all,” Jones said of crossing paths with his new Raiders teammate. “That’s all he got from me.”
But there’s more. Much more.
There’s a hint of unfinished business to this sleeker version of Jones, who said he was in the 250- to 255-pound range, though he looked much lighter (his playing weight is listed at 260). Even as some see the Raiders’ selection of edge rusher Tyree Wilson with the No. 7 overall draft pick as a referendum, of sorts, on Jones and what the 33-year-old has remaining in his tank.
Still, Jones was all for the pick of Wilson, refusing to see it as a slap in his face. Rather, it’s an opportunity to pay it forward.
“Where I am now as a player, it’s my job to grab guys like Tyree, Adam Plant — another guy you might not have heard of — these guys are young and they have such a high ceiling,” Jones said of the Raiders’ first-round draft pick and an undrafted rookie from UNLV. “They can go so far.
“When I was a young player, I had Vince Wilfork, but he wasn’t much of a pass-rusher, but I wish I had a Maxx Crosby, a Chandler Jones in my room as a rookie. It’s our job as a player to pass that down, and the things that we can share … I mean, looking at [Tyree], I’m excited to have him on the team. … He’s going to be good for us.”
Jones, with 112 career sacks and four Pro Bowl nods along with a pair of first-team All-Pro selections, might be headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame when all is said and done. Yet those numbers, Jones and his coaches insist, can be misleading.
Consider: while Jones’ 4.5 sacks ranked second on the Raiders to Crosby’s 12.5 sacks last season, three came in one game, a Week 13 defeat of the Los Angeles Chargers, when Jones had five QB hits and was named AFC defensive player of the week.
Otherwise, Jones was being roundly critiqued and criticized for a seeming lack of production. Enter Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, Jones’ position coach with the Patriots in 2012, his rookie season.
“Chan is like my favorite,” Graham said with a laugh. “Don’t tell anybody, though.
“The things he did last year, in terms of putting pressure on the quarterback, playing the run, I mean I’m just so proud of him … because you just see the growth of a true technician, a true professional in terms of the way he can explain the game, the way he executes out there, the way he can see it and his leadership ability. He’s working hard every day and we’ll see how it all plays out, but Chan is a great player. … I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.”
Still, taking away his 2020 season, in which he was limited to five games, Jones had career lows in sacks (4.5), tackles (38), tackles for a loss (3) and forced fumbles (1) last season.
And therein lies the rub, when it comes to numbers, right?
“Football, especially at this level, statistics are very tricky,” Jones said. “You can sit there and stare at stats, but at the end of the day as long as you’re grading out well by the coaches and you’re doing your job, and you might be freeing up other guys, as long as you’re putting the team first, that’s all that matters.
“Do I want more stats? Of course. Is that my goal? Of course. I would be selling myself short if I didn’t. But you can’t go chasing them.”
He’ll stick to chasing quarterbacks, while imparting wisdom to the next generation of Raiders pass-rushers.