“What I love is on some of those longer runs [last week] he had no desire to go out of bounds,” O’Connell said. “There was a burst late to get every possible yard he could on those runs.”
Vikings running back Aaron Jones pulls away from Giants cornerback Adoré Jackson during a 19-yard run in last Sunday’s win. (Jerry Holt/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Jones, 29, was disappointed when the Packers went younger by signing Josh Jacobs, 26, to a four-year, $48 million deal. But he said he’s not harboring any bitterness toward his old team less than three weeks before his first return to Lambeau Field.
As for his impending 30th birthday, Jones sees no reason to dread the arrival of Dec. 2. Instead, he is doing extra work he hopes will prevent some of the injuries he’s experienced, like the hamstring issues that cost him six games before he finished last year with five consecutive 100-yard games, including two in the playoffs.
“You add things so it’s not rehab, it’s pre-hab,” Jones said. “I’ve always done hot tubs before practice. Now, I’m in the training room 45 minutes before practice doing things to warm up, activate my hamstrings, my quads, my glutes, my knees. And there are some recovery things the Vikings have here that I didn’t have in Green Bay, like the hyperbaric chamber.”