Until March, Aaron Jones had only known what it was like to be a member of one NFL franchise — the Green Bay Packers.
The star running back walked off the Lambeau Field turf in January following a game against the Chicago Bears. But, little did Jones know that the game against the NFC North division rival would be his last time in a Packers uniform.
"To be honest," Jones told reporters on Wednesday, "my last time I walked out of there, I thought I was coming back." Jones racked up 5,940 rushing yards over his seven-year stint with the Packers. The team released him on March 11, but just one day later, he landed with the Minnesota Vikings.
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But Jones appears to have turned the page and he is off to a good start in Minnesota. The undefeated Vikings travel to Green Bay this weekend for a matchup with the Packers, setting up a situation that Jones described as a "full-circle moment."
"I was here (in Minnesota) already," Jones said. "Kind of working on myself, working with my new teammates, but just even then it was like, ‘Wow, I’m back in Green Bay. This is kind of like a full-circle moment. Who thought I would’ve been here packing my stuff up, but I am and ready for this new adventure.’ So that was kind of that moment."
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Although Jones might be content with his current team, he admittedly still has "a chip on my shoulder."
"I’ve always had a chip on my shoulder since I’ve been playing football," Jones said. "I feel like I’ve always been overlooked or underrated." The Packers cut ties with Jones just one year after he agreed to a salary reduction. He also finished the 2023 campaign in impressive fashion, which made his release more surprising.
However, the Pro Bowl running back seems to be more than happy to send a message to his former team on Sunday.
"If you’re not thinking about the end zone," Jones said, "you’re thinking about the wrong thing. And I’m definitely leaping. I’m definitely leaping up there," Jones said in a nod to the famous Lambeau Leap celebration.
Jones added that if he does find his way into the end zone, he will leap toward someone wearing purple.
"Hopefully," he said, "there’s a Vikings fan in one of them so I can jump up to them. I think that would be a cool shot, a pretty cool side by side of the two jerseys doing a Lambeau Leap."
Jones' feelings simply add fuel to the Vikings and Packers rivalry, but the running back is well aware that the NFL is a ultimately a business.
"I understand it’s a business," Jones said. "I made a lot of great relationships there. I have a lot of respect for the people there and the relationships that I made there, and it’s nothing but love. I understand it’s a business, and at some point you’ve got to make business decisions. It may be a hard decision, but you’ve got to make a decision and live with it."
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