Chandler Jones doesn't agree with comparisons to Jason Pierre-Paul.
Chandler JonesFOXBOROUGH – Chandler Jones isn’t offended by comparisons to New York Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul. He just wants people to know that he doesn’t think they are accurate.
“Jason Pierre-Paul is a great player. I’m a different player from him,” Jones, a defensive end, said. “I’m not going to sit here and compare us two, but he’s a great player. I respect his game.”
It’s easy to see why minds seem to automatically link Jones to Pierre-Paul. Both players are 6-foot-5 and succeed on their athleticism and length. And both also know how to use those attributes to get after the quarterback.
Pierre-Paul finished with 16.5 sacks last season and Jones got off to roaring start in New England’s preseason opener by consistently creating pressure on the New Orleans’ signal caller. The Patriots rookie’s performance was so strong that Saints tackle Jermon Bushrod exclaimed that ones was a “specimen” after the game.
But Jones doesn’t attribute his success to his build. The secret, he says, lies in his mentality, which also happens to be something analysts often say about Pierre-Paul.
“For a great football player you have to have a high motor,” Jones said. “For the non-football analysts here, to have a high motor means you’re never giving up until that whistle is blown. That's the mentality that I try to approach (the game with), if the whistle hasn’t blown I’m still going after that ball.”
The similarities between the two don’t end there. After having a few passes batted down at the line of scrimmage by Pierre-Paul in last year’s Super Bowl, Tom Brady exclaimed that it was like throwing into a forest.
Well, Jones appears to have brought the trees to Foxborough. It’s been a common site in training camp for Jones to rush the passer, come up short, but throw one of his long arms up into the air to bat the ball down.
Some players view such plays as a failure since it means they came within feet of recording a sack, but not Jones.
“I definitely look at it as a good play,” Jones said. “I feel like every play I’m trying to make a play if I don’t make it to the quarterback and he’s throwing it short .I throw my hands up in the air. If the ball’s batted that’s a great play.”
So if not Pierre-Paul, then whom should Jones be compared to? For him, the answer is no one. The only player Jones wants to be compared to is himself.
But then who does he learn from?
“My coaches. (Defensive line) coach Pat Graham, (linebackers coach) Pepper Johnson, and we got Matt Patricia as a defensive coordinator,” he said. “Whatever they tell me to do or try, I try to put it in my game and it works.”