Felger & Mazz Live From Super Bowl XLVII: Chandler Jones On Rookie Season With Patriots
BOSTON (CBS) - Live from Radio Row in New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII, 98.5 The Sports Hub's Felger and Massarotti were joined by New England Patriots defensive end Chandler Jones on Wednesday.
It's a "bittersweet" trip to New Orleans for the Patriots rookie, who will have to watch his brother Arthur and his Baltimore Ravens -- the same Ravens that sent the Patriots packing -- take on the San Francisco 49ers.
Jones enjoyed a solid rookie season with the Patriots, recording six sacks and three forced fumbles in his 14 regular season games. He suffered an ankle injury in the Patriots divisional round win over the Houston Texans though, and wasn't able to do much in the AFC Championship loss to Baltimore.
"Shout out to our training staff, they did their best job to get me out there and suited up for that game," said Jones, who watched all but two plays of the Pats' loss to the Ravens from the sidelines. "I tried to do what I could, but physically I just couldn't do it."
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As for what went wrong for the Patriots in the AFC Championship game, Baltimore simply made more plays when it mattered most.
"Baltimore did a good job capitalizing on mistakes," said Jones. "I was asked if there was a snowball effect going on, and I said 'there is no snowball effect going on in football.' If you remember when we played San Francisco (in Week 15) they were up big and we came back to tie it at 31. Baltimore just did a good job capitalizing on mistakes."
While his first year in the NFL fell short of the ultimate goal, Jones said he learned a lot as a rookie.
"Guys in the locker room, Vince Wilfork and Rob Ninkovich, those guys showed me everything," he said. "Even from guys that weren't in my locker room. I learned a lot from my brother Arthur; just how to take care of your body and how to be a veteran."
Now Jones embarks on his first off-season of an NFL player. There weren't many surprises for him in his rookie campaign, but he's going to make sure he comes back stronger next season.
"I'm going to work on a lot of upper body strength this off-season. I have a lot of lower body strength, but I feel like it's disproportional," said Jones.
His off-season program will include some MMA workouts with his brother, Jon "Bones" Jones, over the summer.
"It definitely helps you... when you're tugging and playing in the trenches," said Jones. "I try to get my hands inside before they can touch me, so I'll be working on my hands."
Also, Jones talks about the the toughest offensive lineman he played against, and what it's like to play for Bill Belichick:
