Back from injury, this South Carolina leader has ‘rare ability’ to elevate defense
More than a month ago, Ernest Jones felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his lower stomach one night. But the next morning, the junior linebacker for South Carolina football woke up and still went to practice, but when he went to get set in his usual stance, the “real tight, sharp pain” returned.
A doctor’s visit and a battery of scans and tests later, and it came out that Jones had been trying to practice with an inflamed appendix, which eventually had to be removed, keeping him out through all of August.
But Jones’ push to practice fits with his goal for the 2020 season — “Develop the mindset within myself that I’m gonna go out there and try to dominate each and every day.”
While leading the Gamecocks in tackles last season with 97, Jones also emerged as one of the team’s most vocal leaders despite only being a sophomore. Pushing that role even further this year, Jones said Friday that he wants to lead by example with consistent effort to buoy the rest of the defense, especially because consistency has been one of the unit’s biggest issues.
“I feel like, and I’ve always felt this way, we’ve had a good team. But we don’t do what we’re supposed to do at times, and I feel like if we go out and do what we’re supposed to do, then there’s nothing that this defense can’t do,” Jones said. “There’s no offense this defense couldn’t play with.”
That starts with his own play, and defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson has made it clear to everyone on the team that Jones has the capability to be a special player that can push the defense forward.
“Ernest is a really good football player, and we’re gonna need him to play well for us to play well,” Robinson said. “ ... I think we say it enough outside the building and in the building that our players understand the guys that we need to make plays. I tell them all the time, ‘We have some role guys on our team, these guys are role players, and we need them to play hard, we need them to play good, we need them to be in the right spot.’ And then we got some guys that have the rare ability to make some plays.”
At the moment, however, Jones is limited in practice as he gets up to speed following his appendectomy. Since his return in recent days, he’s repped with the second team to ease his way back in, Robinson said, but he’s already made his impact felt there by communicating and organizing the defense.
Both Robinson and head coach Will Muschamp have expressed confidence that Jones will be able to catch up quickly and start for USC, given his understanding of the defense and the game as a whole. And Jones said Friday that his time off the field wasn’t without its own benefits.
“I definitely feel like I gained something out of just sitting out and watching. I feel like I see some things that I didn’t see, but as a player, just sitting back and watching, I feel like now I have an understanding of certain things and when I see certain things on the field or how I should have reacted,” Jones said. “So I believe that sitting out was a benefit in some ways. I would have rather been on the field, but I don’t think it was wasted.”
South Carolina’s scrimmage this Saturday marked a key point in Jones’ recovery. With the season opener against Tennessee two weeks away, he got live reps in to see how his body responds and, most importantly, get to hit people again for the first time in weeks.
“I can’t wait,” Jones said Friday, laughing. “I can’t wait.”
