Back in the Trenches: Braxton Jones on recovery, weight gain, and competition

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 6 hours ago

CHICAGO - Braxton Jones is the most seasoned player competing for Chicago’s starting left tackle job.

However, he still has to recover from his season-ending ankle injury last year.

"Early on, there’s a lot of things that I was battling in terms of (it) being (one) of my first serious, serious injuries. Just makes you look in the mirror and be like, ‘What are you going to do to get back? What are the things you’re going to do and how hard am I going to work to get back?’ So, there were some days where I woke up and I was like, ‘I don’t feel like doing much today. I don’t want to do anything.’ But, I continued to get up and the training room pushed me. Everybody pushed me. I have a great support system (and) family that has always supported me and people that supported me early on that I appreciate too. So, all of it. But, we’re here now,” Jones said. “I think for me, right before I actually got injured, I was starting to really come around to some of the things that I wanted to accomplish and I know it was super late in the season, but just a confidence thing and things like that.

"But, I was really just starting to come around it and I felt like early in the year, coming into camp a little late as well, just didn’t have the best start I wanted personally. But, that’s okay. I feel like I was starting to have a better season as the season was going on and coming into this season, dealing with the injury, that’s been my main focus just given (that) whatever I have with the injury that day, giving, if that’s 80 percent, giving the 80 percent. If that’s 100 percent, giving the 100 percent and taking it day-by-day. I can’t look ahead, especially with this injury, I got to be right here in the moment 24/7 and that’s my biggest thing is trying to just be present and just be full-go with the injury.”

One challenge about rehabbing from such a serious injury is weight loss. Weight is incredibly important for an offensive lineman and while recovering from his ankle injury, Jones inevitably lost some weight.

Since he is several months removed from this injury, Jones is now able to start adding weight again reach his target weight between 305 and 310.

“During the early processes, I definitely cut down the weight trying to get back from injury. For me, that was one of the things I wanted to do and just take that load off the leg. But, I’ve been getting back up there as well. It’s definitely a challenge, but it’s nothing I haven’t done before,” Jones said. “I really love that 305 at least, 310 range. That’s where I’m targeting. I’m sitting about 300 or something, getting there though.”

Competing for the starting left tackle, Jones has experience on his side. While he has started in 40 NFL games, Ozzy Trapilo is a rookie and Kiran Amegadjie has only started one game. This experience factor seems to be reflected in the first depth chart as Jones is listed as the starting left tackle with Trapilo behind him.

However, Jones knows that his 40 games of experience do not guarantee him the job.

“The experience is a huge thing and I will obviously lean on that a lot. But, at the end of the day, (I) still have to focus on getting right with the ankle and then still focusing on that experience I do have. But, that comes naturally,” Jones said. “When I’m out there on the field, that’s not something where you’re like, ‘Oh, I got this experience. Let me show you this.’ No, it just kind of happens naturally when I’m out there and just seeing things differently and trying to still use my experience to help the other guys too. That’s how I am and just always trying to help them out with something that maybe I’ve seen over the couple years that I have on them or whatever that is.”