Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones is 16 yards away from 1,000 rushing yards and one touchdown away from 20 total touchdowns with one game left in 2019.
The Packers haven’t had a 1,000-yard rusher since 2014, and only one Packers running back has ever scored 20 touchdowns in a single season.
Jones, who has 984 rushing yards and 19 total touchdowns, can hit both in the season finale Sunday against the Detroit Lions.
“It’d be awesome. It’d be pretty cool,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said Thursday when asked what it’d mean for Jones to get to 20 touchdowns. “Obviously, we’d love to get him 1,000 (rushing yards), I think he’s earned it. He’s run really hard all year. Twenty touchdowns would be fantastic.”
Ahman Green is the only other Packers running back to get to 20 total touchdowns. He rushed for 15 and caught five during an All-Pro season in 2003.
Jones leads the NFL with 16 rushing touchdowns and 19 total scores.
Only three players over the last 10 seasons have scored 20 total times in a season: Todd Gurley in 2018, David Johnson in 2016 and LeSean McCoy in 2011. In fact, only 22 running backs in NFL history have ever scored 20 or more total touchdowns in a single season.
“That’s a pretty big number for a running back, especially in this day and age where you’re seeing less featured backs and less guys getting 1,000 yards,” Rodgers said.
Eddie Lacy ran for 1,139 yards for the Packers in 2014, but the team hasn’t had a 1,000-yard rusher the last four years.
Jones, who rushed for 154 yards and two touchdowns against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday, positioned himself to get to both milestones on Sunday in Detroit.
Praise for WR blocking: Rodgers and coach Matt LaFleur both praised the receivers for their blocking ability in the run game.
Allen Lazard, Jake Kumerow, Geronimo Allison and even Marquez Valdes-Scantling delivered key blocks on runs as the Packers rushed for 184 yards against the Vikings on Monday night.
“When the receivers are blocking and taking care of the third level, that’s when those runs that are maybe 10-12 yards become explosives and are 20-plus-yard gains,” LaFleur said Thursday. “To our guys’ credit, they’ve really embraced that. It shows their level of care and commitment to this football team and to their teammates.”
Lazard, arguably the best run-blocker of the bunch, had the key block on Aaron Jones’ first touchdown run. Valdes-Scantling had another on his 56-yard score in the fourth quarter. Kumerow and Allison have been solid blockers all season.
“Combined, it’s perhaps the best group of (receiver) blockers we’ve had,” Rodgers said. “I’m really proud of those guys for the way they’ve blocked.”
Rodgers wants Crosby back: The Packers quarterback praised kicker Mason Crosby for bouncing back from a disastrous afternoon in Detroit last October and expressed hope that Crosby, who is a free agent after the 2019 season, will be back in 2020 and beyond.
The Packers return to Detroit on Sunday. At Ford Field last year, Crosby missed four field goals and an extra point in an 8-point loss, but the Packers stuck with Crosby, who has made 38-of-41 field goals and 64-of-65 extra points in the 26 games since.
“He’s been fantastic. It really takes a lot of pressure off the squad when you got somebody who is so reliable back there,” Rodgers said. “Hopefully, we can keep Mason around for a long time because he’s the type of guy that can play into his 40s if he wants to.”
LaFleur not upset with Zimmer handshake: LaFleur and Vikings coach Mike Zimmer had a brief and awkward handshake following the Packers’ 23-10 win on Monday night. The optics of the encounter weren’t good from Zimmer’s side, but LaFleur had little to say about it when asked Thursday.
“I haven’t even thought about it at all, to be honest with you,” LaFleur said. “It is what it is. It’s a competitive game. I’ll leave it at that.”