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    • Packers tackle Caleb Jones disappears from the scene as roster cuts loom
    Washington

    Packers tackle Caleb Jones disappears from the scene as roster cuts loom

    Madoc Meredith Posted on

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    GREEN BAY – For each of the past two seasons, the Green Bay Packers have invested a roster spot in promising tackle Caleb Jones, hoping the young lineman’s unique talent would shine through and make him an indispensable part of their blocking unit.

    It was an apprenticeship for the 6-foot-1, 365-pound Jones, who was relearning how to use his massive 77-inch wingspan and strong upper and lower body strength after his weight ballooned to 400 pounds during his senior year at Indiana.

    He should become a full-fledged offensive lineman in the NFL this year.

    Four weeks into training camp, Jones has been invisible. He missed some time early on with a hamstring injury and never recovered. He is buried on the third team at a key backup position that the Packers have not yet filled.

    Jones has two training sessions and a warm-up game left to turn his fortunes around, with finals cuts coming up in a week.

    “The hamstrings were kind of throwing me off,” Jones said. “I started a week later and felt like I was a little behind. I was just fighting to get back into the flow that everything else was in.”

    “I’m not sure if it was too little or too late or whatever. But it definitely changed my expectations of myself (for performance).”

    Caleb Jones must show that he has regained the potential of the past

    In his first two years, Jones performed adequately in practice and then shined in games, playing against lesser-known pass rushers, overrunning his opponents and making it difficult for anyone rushing on the blind side to get to the quarterback.

    When he made a block on a running play, he forced defenders out of their gaps. It wasn’t always pretty, but for a guy who had set out to lose 50 pounds and still had so much work to do to get his body in top shape, it gave the Packers some hope that he could be a starter one day.

    Jones was in a good position early last year after being named to the 53-man roster, but he came down with mononucleosis and spent most of the season getting back into shape. The Packers didn’t place him on the injured list, allowing him to practice and be available if they needed him later in the year.

    “Last year I came here and was able to show who I am as a player and what my strengths are right away,” Jones said of training camp. “This year, things have been different. I think now it’s just about controlling what I can control and focusing on taking it day by day.”

    There is a lot of pressure on Jones to perform in the final week of camp.

    The Packers need a swing tackle, and their best option should one of their tackles get injured is to move one of their guards to the outside and add another player inside. They appear to have more depth there than at the tackle position, where veteran Andre Dillard, first-year pro Kadeem Telfort, sixth-round draft pick Travis Glover and Jones are competing for the backup positions.

    Dillard sat out practice on Tuesday with a shoulder injury, which should have given Jones a chance to play for the second team. But the coaches moved Telfort to the left side and Glover to the right. Jones played left tackle on the third team.

    Jones has had to play right tackle lately, which doesn’t come naturally to him, but said that hasn’t been a factor in his inconsistency.

    “I don’t think my back-and-forth created any obstacles or problems or anything like that,” Jones said. “I just think other people took the initiative when I was on the bench. And since I was a little behind, they jumped ahead of me.”

    Knowing he has little time left to prove himself, Jones is trying to take the words of former Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari and say that it’s not about raising the maximum, but the minimum.

    “You have to be able to perform at your peak all the time,” Jones said, echoing the words of his former teammate. “There are times when you perform at your peak and there are times when you slack. When you slack, it’s hard for coaches to trust you, especially as an undrafted free agent.”

    “I think it’s a little bit more of the same. It’s about consistency. It’s just the way it’s always been.”

    Caleb Jones has one more week to prove he can be the Packers’ swing tackle

    Jones should put in some good performances in joint practice with the Ravens if Dillard remains out, and if he performs well, it could inspire the coaches to play him a lot in the final game of the season. He played just 17 snaps on Saturday against the Denver Broncos, significantly less than Glover’s 48 and Telfort’s 39.

    The Packers may feel they already know what they have in Jones and are evaluating whether Glover and Telfort are better options.

    Glover played left tackle in a run-oriented offense and plays right tackle in front of a $200 million quarterback so he gets as much pass-blocking work as possible. The 6-foot-4, 300-pound Telfort, who spent last season on the practice squad, has the tools and will be tested to see if he can hold his own against NFL pass rushers.

    The bottom line is that they want their quarterback protected.

    “It’s just a matter of who’s the most reliable player,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. “The biggest thing is pass protection. You have to protect the quarterback. That’s the biggest responsibility of a tackle. So that’s the main thing we look at.”

    It might help Jones that he has some solid practice footage under his belt and the Packers see enough this week to keep him. It’s also possible they let him go and then try to get him back on the practice squad so he can work through his consistency issue.

    More: Greg Joseph has problems with the kicker towards the end of training camp and Anders Carlson, further insights from the Packers’ training

    There’s no guarantee he won’t be placed on waivers, but if they decide Dillard is the best option or that first-round pick Jordan Morgan could handle the move in a pinch, they can take that chance. Or they decide it’s best to move on.

    Jones has a week to get her attention.

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    Madoc Meredith
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