Jaguars DL Datone Jones: ‘I want to be here in Sacksonville, sacking quarterbacks’

One of the standout players for the Jacksonville Jaguars last night was veteran defensive end Datone Jones, who had a strong showing against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Jones has bounced around the league since being a first round pick in 2013 by the Green Bay Packers, but flashed in his second preseason appearance for the team, finishing with three tackles, one tackle for a loss, and a hit on the quarterback.

When asked how he thought he played against the Eagles, Jones said his motivation is to play with the guys that make Jacksonville one of the best defensive line units in the NFL.

“I just wanted to go out there and execute and compete,” Jones said after the game on Thursday night. “I felt like I started off really slow the first preseason game and I felt like I owed it to my teammates to go out there today, execute and put my abilities on film. [I wanted to] let guys like Calais [Campbell], Marcell [Dareus] and Yannick [Ngakoue] know that I’m here to compete and I want to be in the lineup with those guys. I want to be here in Sacksonville, sacking quarterbacks. Preseason is all about coming out here and displaying and competing and just having fun with your brothers. Executing, you know.”

Part of that fun was an early first quarter hit on backup quarterback Cody Kessler that knocked him out of the game.

When asked what guys like Calais and Marcell were telling him after he was done for the night, Datone said they stressed that preseason or not — it’s about winning.

“’That’s the mentality we need, that’s the standard. The standard is, we don’t lose. We get to the quarterback, we get turnovers and the ball.’ That’s what we were doing with our starting guys we had tonight.”

Here’s hoping Jones can carve out a place for himself on this 53-man roster.