According to a report on nesn.com Wednesday evening, New England Patriots defensice lineman Chandler Jones, the younger brother of UFC light heavyweight Jon Jones, will be spending a portion of his off season working on his conditioning and MMA skills with his brother.
Jones just completed his successful rookie year as a member of the New England Patriots. When he wasn't battling injuries, he was one of the better pass rusher in the AFC. And though he is disappointed he isn't competing in the Super Bowl himself, the third Jones brother, Arthur is as a member of the Baltimore Ravens. So Chandler is spending the week down in New Orleans showing him support.. However, despite Arthur competing in the same sport as Chandler, it isn't he who Chandler will be learning from this off season.
“I’m headed to Albuquerque, New Mexico to do some MMA training. We’re going to do some conditioning down there,” Chandler Jones said of his plans during an interview on the Felger and Mazz show on Wednesday.
Chandler Jones, just 22 years old, believes spending time doing some MMA training with Jon Jones will help improve his agility and pass rushing capabilities.
“That definitely helps you,” Jones said. “[Jon] has a boxing coach, a muay thai coach and a jiu jitsu coach. That helps a lot when you’re tugging, playing in the trenches. My biggest thing is I try to get my hands inside before blockers touch me so if I work on my hand speed, that’ll be a great aspect to add to my game.”
Jones finished his rookie campaign with 45 tackles and six sacks while competing in 14 games with the New England Patriots. But after a quick start, injuries caught up to him as he failed to record a sack over the last six games of the year. He was also unable to suit up for the AFC Championship game due to injury.
Despite doing well for himself in his rookie season, Chandler Jones can't be happy about watching the game from the sidelines. Working with Jon Jones is his way of ensuring he is there as a participant in the game next year. Time will tell if jiu jitsu, boxing and muay thai training will translate to more sacks and a better pass rush for the youngest of the Jones brothers.
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