Is it time to worry about Julius Jones' durability

[Guest Moose Knuckle Ball Four]

IRVING - Julius Jones might not be injury prone, and he might have the pain threshold of a bear, but facts speak louder than rhetoric.

 

If the Cowboys running back misses his third consecutive game this Sunday because of an ankle sprain, "It'll be 11 1/2 games he's missed out of 24," Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said of Jones's NFL career. "You got to be a little concerned."

 

Parcells recited that alarming stat off the top of his head Monday, almost as if to send a message. And no, Parcells did not sound optimistic that Jones will be back for Sunday's game against Arizona. One week before the bye, Parcells also said he doesn't want to push the injury for fear of slowing the healing process.

 

The absences have the Cowboys worried they might have a potential Pro Bowl back who can't play consistently to put up Pro Bowl numbers.

 

Even before the season began, Jones didn't worry about either of those as much as he worried about playing.

 

"I want to finish the season," Jones said just before the start of the regular season. "I want to do that first and foremost."

 

As talented as Jones is, he will never be great unless he plays. The great rushers -- Curtis Martin, Jerome Bettis, Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton -- shared one trait: They were in the game.

 

Many talented rushers are never great but, instead, are like Bo Jackson. They are forever linked to musings such as, "If only he'd been healthy ..."

 

"Part of it is durability," Parcells said. "That's the second critical factor for that position. Besides vision and instincts, that's the second critical factor.

 

"I'm not saying [Jones] is not durable."

 

History does.

 

Jones missed the first game of the 2004 season because of a rib injury suffered in the preseason during a game in which he tapped on his helmet signaling he wanted to come out. That's a Parcells' no-no.

 

Two weeks later, Jones was shelved for seven games because of a fractured scapula.

 

In between that injury and this current ailment, Jones showed so much so fast to give the Cowboys reason to believe they had their 1,200-yard back.

 

But, when the ankle gave way Oct. 9 against Philadelphia, there was reason to believe Jones might be injury prone.

 

"OK, he broke his shoulder, that's bad luck," Parcells said. "Oh, it's an ankle? That's bad luck. You know it is. That's still the fact. I'm hopeful we'll get over this."

 

The son of a coal miner, Jones is tough. No one questions that. His career suggests, however, he does not wear a cape.

 

A sprained ankle his junior year at Notre Dame kept him out of one game. A hamstring injury his sophomore season forced him to watch from the sidelines against Rutgers.

 

A game here, a game there, eight as a rookie and now two in his first seven games as a second-year pro.

 

"I kind of realized last year that things could go in a different way really quick," Jones said. "I got hurt really quick at the beginning of the year, and the doubts came."

 

And they are back now.

[cinciman7 2]

Yup

[Busted by the Feds 9]

Shhhhhh, don't let the secret out.

 

I want everybody in my league to keep picking Julius Jones in the first round of the draft and let the emerging stud RBs fall to the 2nd or 3rd round for me to pick.

[texasmouth 1]

As a JJ owner in several leagues, including a dynasty, and a huge Cowboys homer, I am officially worried.

[sabtoker 0]

JJ will be a stud after the bye

[rebooters 1]

JJ will be a stud after the bye

barber is the new back in town. jj could be hurt every season, only playing about half the time. barber rocks.