Bitter end for Jones | The newspaper

Eduardo Morán / El Diario

Monday, January 25, 2021 | 06:00

A chest injury suffered in the third quarter did not allow the passer-by Aaron Jones to finish playing yesterday the NFL National Conference title game, which the Green Bay Packers lost 31-26 to the Tampa Buccaneers Bay.

Jones, a graduate of Burges High School in El Paso and a former player for the UTEP Miners, played for the second year in a row in his four-season career in the National Conference finals, now with two losses.

Yesterday, the player from El Paso did not have his best performance, because before leaving the game early in the third quarter he had barely rushed for 27 yards on seven carries, with four receptions for seven yards, but he had also dropped the ball twice.

Buccaneers safety Jordan Whitehead forced Jones’ second fumble in the third quarter, which Devin White returned 21 yards to Green Bay at 8 and led the way for a Tampa Bay touchdown.

On the fumble play, both Jones and Whitehead were injured, the former to the chest and the latter to the shoulder, with 13:58 left in the third quarter.

In fact, both of Jones’ balls were forced by Whitehead, but in the first, Packers tight end Robert Tonyan regained the ball in the first half of the game.

This may have been Jones’ last game in a Packers uniform, as he will become a free agent and will seek a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract, something that analysts say Green Bay will not be able to offer him.