101 Days of BC Football: CJ Jones, #6

CJ Jones is not a name that Boston College Eagles fans heard called very often in 2011. There is a simple explanation for that, however: he played two games and got injured in the second.

Now, in 2012, all will learn if Jones can step up and make this season his comeback year.

Jones was knocked out in the 30-3 disaster against Central Florida during the opening kickoff, injuring his knee and subsequently missing the rest of the season. After the conclusion of the ’11 campaign, he received his medical redshirt, giving him what essentially amounts to a re-do of his sophomore season. In his first attempt at it, he had four tackles, all of which came against Northwestern in Week 1.

CJ Jones played a full season in 2010, appearing in 12 of 13 games and collecting 16 tackles, one of which was for a loss.

As expected, Jones also missed spring ball in 2012, not participating in scrimmages and being left out of the spring game while his knee continues to heal. This is part of the reason why BC was left with nth-string walk-on quarterbacks and backup kickers in the secondary. It’s not a bad idea that they sat him out, anyway, because Boston College will need all the healthy bodies in the backfield that they can get due to lack of depth. A loss of manpower at just about any position on the team, including defensive back, could help sink this team.

Jones is currently second to Al Louis-Jean on the cornerback depth chart. He’s not a bad player from what we know, but we haven’t seen enough of him recently to make a clear judgment anymore. Yes, there was promise shown when he was a freshman, but he is coming off of a season-ending knee injury which sat him out for nearly all of last year. The road back may be difficult, but one thing we do know is that Jones will have to make the most of his playing time and will have to stay healthy. He’s just as important as anyone else in the defensive backfield and we need him to succeed.