ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Yes, Dre’Mont Jones can feel the NFL’s rookie wall.
He has felt it, and last Sunday at Minnesota, he moved past it and picked up the first sack of his career by dumping Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins in what was game 10 of the season, week 11 on the Broncos’ schedule.
“It was pretty cool to get,’’ Jones said this week in a sit-down interview with 9News. “Especially, since I missed a lot early on this season. I felt like I redeemed myself with that one because a couple got away from me.”
Even for an Ohio State program that has an annual reservation in the Big Ten Championship and at least one bowl game, Jones never played more than 14 games in a season.
A third-round draft pick of the Broncos in April, Jones played in all five preseason games. Although he wasn’t activated for the first regular-season game, he practiced for it. So the game today against the Buffalo Bills will be his 15th of the season, and the Broncos’ 16th.
The amount of learning in his first season has been enormous, his body slightly diminished.
“My biggest issue right now is getting my weight up some more,’’ he said. “Right now, I’m playing between 280 and 285.’’
The Broncos want him to play at 290. He’ll get there in the off-season, but weight loss is a common problem among NFL rookies. Broncos left tackle Garett Bolles, for instance, lost nearly 20 pounds in his rookie season of 2017. Many players drop 5 to 10 pounds, as Jones has.
“This is what, week 12?’’ he said. “I’ve played (15) games, counting the preseason. That’s another factor in itself. Plus being a rookie, I’m doing everything. I’m doing our (defensive) reps and then I’m doing a little bit of scout team. I’m playing a little bit of special teams, and I never did before. So that’s different. My weight has dropped because my playing load is a lot.’’
One more adjustment in going from a highly successful college program to the pros: dealing with defeat. Jones has been part of more losses through 10 games with the 3-7 Broncos than he did in three seasons with the Buckeyes (36-5).
“I’ve never been anywhere close to this record,’’ he said. “But it’s OK. I know they brought me in for the future, and I’m here for the future, so I’m not really thinking about right now. I’m thinking about getting better for the future, playing and expecting to be a playoff team sooner rather than later.”
What gives him confidence that the Broncos can return to January football sooner?
“I mean, despite the losses we’ve had, if you look at the totality of the games, how young we are and how well we play against certain teams – our schedule is definitely one of the toughest in the league and we’ve held up and held our own against almost everybody,’’ he said.
Include Jones among the Broncos’ youthful core that also has Bradley Chubb, Courtland Sutton, Phillip Lindsay, Dalton Risner, Noah Fant. And Drew Lock.
Jones flashed his talent during the preseason when he registered four quarterback hits and a tackle for loss. In the regular season, he has five tackles, two quarterback hits and the one sack on Cousins while playing between 25 to 30 percent of the defensive snaps a game.
It’s not easy making plays in a part-time role, but Jones is gradually becoming increasingly productive.
“It was definitely a huge adjustment for me, especially playing as much as I did in college, and OTAs playing a lot and rookie minicamp playing a lot,’’ he said. “And then taking a backseat, realizing I got to get back on top of my game like I did at Ohio State. It was a crazy adjustment.’’
Some defensive players, when the ball is on the other side of the field, you never see them come in the line of vision. Save it for the next play. Jones is a ball pursuer. He still might not get there. But he will if the ball carrier breaks a tackle.
“My dad always taught me when I was younger – I always wanted to just play the game,’’ Jones explained. “Instead of just fitting into a routine, you always want to be active. You don’t to be out there playing around. Make sure I’m working on my game whether its football, basketball or baseball. Whatever I played at that age.
“And I think that translated into something more when I got older to being a high-motor person, a guy that always wants to be around the ball.”
A few hours after another gut-wrenching defeat last week in Minnesota – the Broncos took a 20-0 lead into halftime, only to have Vikings score on every second-half possession to prevail, 27-23 – Jones joined about 30 to 40 of his teammates at a dinner at Del Frisco’s Steakhouse in Denver that was organized by defensive star Von Miller.
“That’s something we needed,’’ Jones said. “It still doesn’t seem real, the fact we lost that last game. And a couple more games before that. It didn’t feel real, and it was good to bond with guys to get over that tough loss.’’
It’s on to Buffalo, where the Bills are a surprising 7-3. Jones will continue to work on his craft, try to help his Broncos win a couple more games, and then start packing on the calories and the carbs in the off-season.
The Broncos will need him strong enough to start next year because fellow defensive lineman Derek Wolfe, Shelby Harris and Adam Gotsis are all eligible for unrestricted free agency at season’s end.
If Jones and his 2019 pro classmates have reached the rookie wall, he’s glad to be there.
“It’s a fun job,’’ he said. “I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.’’
