Jones has high goals as he looks to the future
There was a point during the 2016 season where it looked like junior cornerback Chris Jones could forgo his senior year at Nebraska and declare for the NFL Draft.
However, after looking at what he's accomplished and what he still wants to do, it was the consensus of both Jones and corners coach Brian Stewart that coming back one more year would go a long way.
Jones did submit his name to the NFL Draft Advisory Board to get a grade, as did offensive lineman Nick Gates, but both players will be back in 2017.
“Yeah, I was looking at it, Jones said when talking about the NFL. "You know, people putting rumors out about the NFL and this and that. I’m coming back to get my degree – I felt like I needed to put it out there just to let everybody know I’m coming back. It’s a lot of unfinished business.”
Stewart has nine years experience coaching in the NFL, including a two-year stint where he served as Wade Phillips' defensive coordinator with the Dallas Cowboys.
With so much knowledge of what it takes to play at the next level, Stewart's advice to Jones was pretty simple.
“I think the main thing that he has the opportunity to take advantage of here is to graduate, and he’ll be able to graduate by December, so I thought that was the main thing and the most important thing, and that’s what I was telling him," Stewart said. "Football, if he lives to be 75 years old, he’s probably going to play football at a competitive level probably ten years at the most, so the main thing I wanted him to understand was school was probably the most important thing for his life.”
Jones was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection in 2016, finishing with three interceptions and a team-high nine pass break-ups.
When Stewart breaks down Jones' junior season, he knows there a lot more out there he can get in 2017.
“I’d like to see him be a more vicious tackler," Stewart said. "I don’t think he’s scared, I think he has contact courage, I just want to see him be a vicious tackler. I know he’s going to continue to catch the ball, so just be a vicious tackler.”
Jones will get one more chance to make a statement this year going against a Tennessee offense that has multiple NFL prospects on it.
He said he's looking forward to the chance of facing off against a quality SEC opponent.
“Yeah. It’s another chance for us to go out there, another chance to play," Jones said. "A lot of teams don’t have this chance, and we’re going to make the best of it. We’re going to go down there and have fun, but at the same time, it’s a business trip.
"We’re going to set this up for next year, like Coach (Mike) Riley said, we set things up for this year (in last year’s bowl game), and we’re going to set things up for next year.”