Earlier this offseason, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers called running back Aaron Jones “most athletic, fast guy with a little bit of a belly” but Jones is bringing less of a belly with him to work this year.
Jones said he’s cut his body fat in half while maintaining the same weight by cleaning up his diet. Jones was “big into candy,” but stopped eating it and now feels “stronger in the legs” than he did in his first two seasons.
The boost in strength comes as Jones prepares for his first season in head coach Matt LaFleur’s offense. Jones believes the team will “rely on the run” more than they did while dropping back to pass over 71 percent of the time last year and thinks he’s a good fit for what LaFleur wants to do.
“I feel like I am,” Jones said, via ESPN.com. “We’ve run outside zone in previous years here, so that’s what we’re running and I feel good in this scheme. It’s a lot of things I’ve seen before, so it’s nothing new to me. We take a look on film and see how it’s worked in other systems, so it just gets me very excited.”
Jones has averaged 5.5 yards per carry since entering the NFL, but has averaged just under nine carries per game. If he’s right about the fit, the latter number should be going up and similar effectiveness would be a welcome boost to the offense.