The day after Thanksgiving, Truman Jones was like most people, just sitting at home not doing much of anything after the holiday.
That quickly changed when he learned he’d have to hop on a flight back to some very familiar territory.
After being released from the Chiefs practice squad on November 26th, the Patriots decided to bring the former star Harvard big man in for a workout last Monday. Things went well, he was signed to the Pats’ practice squad and he was quickly in the building, meeting new teammates and participating in his first practice last Tuesday before the team headed out for its bye week.
It was a bit of a whirlwind, but Jones is hoping to take advantage of this next opportunity.
“It’s a historic team, close to where I went to school at, so, a lot of similarities, a lot of crossover there,” Jones said while sitting at his new locker on Monday with a big ’54’ and his name above it at the end of the Patriots locker room. “Basically, I woke up the morning after Thanksgiving and my agent texted me saying the Patriots want to work me out on Monday. They’re buying me a flight and flying me out.
“So, it all just moved very quickly. I was sitting at home for a couple days and the next thing I know I was coming up here. The rest is history…I think at first, it’s exiting to have a new opportunity going to a new place looking to prove yourself and get on the field hopefully. There’s a lot of people I know who haven’t been as fortunate to get another opportunity. So, for me, I’m just happy to be back here. The fact it’s in New England is a bonus.”
The main thing Jones has had to do as fast as possible is trying to learn the language and pick up the play book in a very short amount of time. Ideally, that’s when all those tough scholastic experiences at Harvard pay off.
“It’s hard picking up a new scheme, so just been in my playbook, been studying a lot,” he said. “I’ve been talking to guys, figuring out the culture and just the way things operate here. Everyone’s been super welcoming. Just excited to be back in the Northeast.”
Jones made a trip over to Harvard after he signed, confusing a bunch of former teammates in the process.
“Right after I signed, I went back over to Harvard and talked to some of the coaches and there’s still some players on the team that I knew and I played with when I was captain. They were super excited, but confused as to why as I was in town. They were like ‘what’s going on?’ And it was like, ‘I can’t tell you.’ It all moved so quickly.”
Whether he sticks around or continues living the nomadic life of an NFL practice squad player, Jones is always keeping up with the Crimson and was thrilled to see the program’s success under first year head coach Andrew Aurich.
“I follow them very closely,” he added. “Excited to see Coach Murphy go do his own thing, happy to see the program is staying at a high level. Coach Aurich is doing a great job so far. Not changing too many things and allowing the defense to play, offense using all of their skillsets, the two quarterbacks and things.
“I’m happy to see Harvard football is still back on top of the Ivy League.”