In the past two weeks, Aaron Jones has been a huge part of the Green Bay Packers’ game plan in the early stages of each contest. However, the Packers continue to use him less throughout the game. If Green Bay is going to prevail against two quality run defenses over the final two weeks of the regular season, they will need a healthy, consistent dose of Jones, with the hope that he continues to perform at a high level.
Jones has only been healthy for nine games this season. He suffered a hamstring injury in Week 1 against the Chicago Bears and an MCL sprain in Week 11 against the Los Angeles Chargers. After missing three games following the knee injury, Jones seemed to be on a snap count a week ago against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He played 29 of Green Bay’s 60 offensive snaps (48%). With another week to get healthier, Jones only played 34 of 66 snaps against the Carolina Panthers (52%). Jones has never been a true three-down back, averaging around 60% of snaps over the past four seasons. That’s a ways off the mark of the league leaders such as Christian McCaffrey (81%), Kyren Williams (81%), and Rachaad White (80%), with eight backs averaging over 70% of their teams’ respective snaps per game.
Jones finished the day with 53 yards rushing on 13 carries against Tampa Bay, but he had eight of those carries on the game’s opening drive. Before the game, Matt LaFleur said the Packers would be lucky to get 15 or 20 plays from Jones against the Buccaneers. When Jones ran for 20 yards on his first touch, it was hard for LaFleur to turn away from Jones for the rest of the drive. But as the Green Bay offense struggled, it was clear that Jones not being on the field was a big part of it.
On Christmas Eve, Jones was also the offense’s focal point immediately. He had 46 yards on the opening drive and added a 39-yard run on the first play of Green Bay’s second drive. Jones finished with a quality stat line, with 127 yards on 21 carries, but the Packers didn’t lean on him in the second half. They had three three-and-out drives in the second half, and Jones had two total touches — a five-yard carry and a six-yard carry — on those three drives. Patrick Taylor lined up as the lone running back more often than he probably should have.
Afterward, Jones admitted he wasn’t quite at full strength during the Panthers game. Still, he felt ready to take on a heavier workload with two big games and a lot to play for on the upcoming schedule.
“It felt good, especially to see those first two runs go the way that they did,” Jones said postgame. “It was good to be back out there in that rhythm with my guys, feeling it in the zone. I wouldn’t say I was fully 100%, but who’s ever 100% in December? But definitely getting back to myself and feeling better each week as the weeks go on. Hopefully next week I come out there, and I am 100%.”
If A.J. Dillon isn’t going to be 100% as he returns from a thumb injury, it’s time to lean on Aaron Jones even more. LaFleur, offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich, and Jordan Love have done a great job making do with a young, patchwork receiving corps that has incurred one injury after another as the weeks have progressed. Still, Jones has the ability to be the focal point of the offense. There’s a lot of room to grow from roughly 50% of the offensive snaps to where some league leaders sit at 75 or 80%. With only two games left in the regular season, there’s no excuse not to lean on Jones even more.
