JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—Jaguars receiver Matt Jones was criticized for his sometimes-lackadaisical body language in high school and college.
Now he’s hearing about it in the pros, too.
Coach Jack Del Rio publicly questioned the former first-round pick’s on-the-field demeanor, indicating Jones takes plays off and pouts when he doesn’t get the ball.
“I’m not comfortable with some of the body language he’s exhibiting,” said Del Rio, who added he recently addressed his concerns with Jones.
Jones responded Wednesday, saying he was “a little” surprised by Del Rio’s remarks and noting that he got similar questions in high school and college.
“It’s how I am,” Jones said, wearing a fishing hat, slippers and sporting a scruffy red beard. “I’m not a guy that’s jumping up and down all the time. But I’m still happy for everybody else. I want to win. I’m going to do what I can.”
Jones, a star quarterback at Arkansas who was the 18th overall draft pick in 2005, caught 77 passes for 1,075 yards and nine touchdowns his first two years. He was expected to take a step toward becoming Jacksonville’s go-to guy this season, nearly three years after making the transition to receiver.
It hasn’t happened.
He fell behind Dennis Northcutt and Ernest Wilford on the depth chart over the summer and hasn’t made a push for a starting spot. He’s been relegated to the slot receiver and has three catches for 36 yards in two games.
He dropped a pass in the end zone in the opener and dropped another last week when he got sandwiched between two defenders over the middle.
Next week, the Jaguars travel to Denver to play the Broncos.
“If you make a couple of more plays here and there, then it’s probably not (an issue),” Jones said. “But what can I do?”
Jones said he understood the coach’s criticism. But he also made it clear that he has been “definitely giving effort and trying to do my job.”
Jones, a self-described laid-back country boy who spends most of his downtime hunting and fishing, insisted he still loves football, competing and being in Jacksonville. He also said he didn’t expect to change his ways.
“If you’re asking me to be a guy that’s going to be hollering around and jumping up and down and stuff, I don’t think that’s ever really going to be me,” he said. “I’m a team player. I want us to win. I know when you win everything’s better. I do what I can, whatever role that is.”
Del Rio and Jones declined to give many specifics of their meeting.
But Del Rio said body language can make a difference because players “feed off each other.”
“If you come into a room and you’re smiling, you can infect people around here,” Del Rio said. “A guy like Reggie Nelson, he’s so full of energy. When he enters a room, he has an infectious ability. It’s kind of contagious. Other people feel energized. I think conversely, sometimes when you have a more casual demeanor about it, it can be misconstrued.”
