DJ's new tune

[Nexus]

 

 

Leaner, stronger and quicker in drills, Nebraska right tackle D.J. Jones only looks like the 2010 version of Phil Dillard, the NU linebacker who drastically reshaped his body to reclaim his Blackshirt - and possibly secure a NFL job.

 

But Jones, who started the Colorado, Texas and Arizona games in 2009, wasn’t locked inside any doghouse. No stern chats with offensive line coach Barney Cotton about his conditioning.

 

Entering his senior season, the Omaha Central graduate simply had an epiphany.

 

“It was just something in my head,” Jones said. “That I wanted to do everything I could do. It wasn’t just a weight thing. It was getting stronger. It was getting faster.”

 

It caught the eye of NU offensive coordinator Shawn Watson.

 

“He’s really picked up at that same spot when he was starting to get it,” Watson said. “He really flashes on film at time for us. He’s going to be in that mix for the ‘best five.’”

 

Jones was starting to “get it” last season. Then he hurt his ankle.

 

“It kind of impeded (progress),” Watson said.

 

When another bum ankle sidelined fellow left tackle Marcel Jones, D.J. tested the limits of his pain threshold. He didn’t have a choice, really, but the CU and UT games - when the Cornhuskers lined up in power formations and mashed into nine-man fronts over and over - were particularly difficult.

 

Jones got a sense of what he could endure.

 

“After playing those last three games hurt, I knew I could definitely make a difference this year because I was used to playing through that pain,” he said. “…If I can fight through that, I can fight through anything.”

 

Then, winter conditioning. Jones said he “really didn’t lose” a pound.

 

But he definitely put it in different places.

 

“I’ve got that lean muscle mass going for me now,” Jones laughed.

 

Said Watson: “He had a really good winter.”

 

Jones carved away the typical blub found on the bellies of most offensive linemen. He improved his lifts. He swore off “all the good stuff” when he headed back to hometown Omaha on the weekends.

 

“I couldn’t just eat like my friends were eating,” Jones said.

 

As spring camp opened, D.J. and Marcel Jones found themselves in a familiar “silent” competition. One day, Marcel inched forward. Then D.J. It’s a good problem to have but a heated position battle nonetheless.

 

Their foil is usually defensive end Pierre Allen, who battled through his own pain - a turf toe - in 2009. Allen’s specialty is a bull rush that gets harder to block when Allen gets healthier and back to speed.

 

“I’m getting both of them ready,” Allen said. “I’m getting them physical, I’m getting them quick on their feet.”

 

Prior to last year, Jones had moved around so often on the offensive line that he’d faced just about every member of the NU front four in practice. Now he’s settled at tackle, for a second straight season.

 

“The older you get, the more you want to feel comfortable at a position so you can focus on something,” Jones said.

 

Allen joked that he still wins his share of battles, but sees the growth.

 

“Injuries definitely held D.J. down a little bit,” Allen said. “This year, he’s getting stronger and he’s getting healthier.”

 

 

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