Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers are fresh off of a 35-14 victory over the Chicago Bears on Thursday night. Unfortunately, the win did not end up coming without some loss. Green Bay saw both Ty Montgomery and Jamaal Williams go down with injuries and miss a large portion of the game.
Those injuries paved the way for rookie running back Aaron Jones to play a big role. He ended up carrying the football 13 times for 49 yards and his first career touchdown.
Following the game, Rodgers made it clear that he has confidence in his rookie running back. He also mentioned that he was a big fan of Jones’ game.
“I was very confident, I’ve been a big fan of his since the beginning. I think he’s a very natural runner of the football. He knows what he’s doing, there wasn’t any hesitation. I think he did a great job, he’s a natural runner. He had some good runs and I’m very confident with him in there.”
If Montgomery and Williams were to miss next week’s game with the Dallas Cowboys, Jones would likely be the starter. He has shown that he is capable of making plays at the NFL level. Receiving a glowing review of his first NFL action from Rodgers shows a lot about the young running back.
Jones was drafted with the No. 182 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. Ted Thompson brought in three running backs in the draft, with Jones being the second one taken behind Williams. He had not received a lot of hype in practice or training camp this season, but that will change moving forward.
Rodgers mentioned that he has been a fan of Jones’ since the beginning. Jones was able to make the franchise quarterback notice him, which bodes well for his future with the Packers.
Expect to see Jones work his way into the rotation moving forward. Montgomery will likely remain the starter moving forward as long as he’s healthy, but Jones could force head coach Mike McCarthy to put him on-the-field at times throughout the rest of the season.