Eagles cornerback Sidney Jones changes training to fight injuries | Jeff McLane

Sidney Jones needed a change.

His two previous offseasons didn’t end so well. Two years ago, he ruptured his Achilles tendon, and last year, after a healthy first month, he suffered a soft-tissue injury that sidelined him for the last three weeks of the Eagles’ spring workouts.

While it is unclear whether Jones’ injuries had any correlation to the multiple hamstring strains he endured last season, the third-year cornerback decided after a disappointing sophomore year that a new offseason training regimen was in order.

The Eagles had asked Jones to get stronger. That has always been an objective. But rather than focus on, say, lifting more weight at a higher intensity, Jones wanted to improve his endurance, and that meant longer workouts with more repetitions.

He sought out teammate Jalen Mills’ trainer and spent two long months in Dallas training with track coach Byron Johnson.

“I wanted to condition my body so I could just run, run, run, and not have my muscles get fatigued,” Jones said Tuesday after practice at the NovaCare Complex. “So that’s where you get the soft-tissue injuries. I’m just trying to make my limbs primed to just go as long as possible.”

It’s a small sample — the Eagles held their first on-field practice just two weeks ago — but Jones has yet to miss a session this spring. He suffered his setback last year around this time, however, and the real tests, of course, will come during the grind of the 16-game season.

But he said he’s pleased with the early returns.

“I felt like I looked pretty damn good for the first week,” Jones said. “For myself, that’s a big improvement, a big confidence booster. I’m just trying to build all of the good things and trying to be consistent. Just trying to not even think about the injury.”

Every spring in the NFL, returning players are faster, stronger, and healthier than they’ve ever been, or so they say. Coaches endorse the narrative and reporters, on occasion, sell it. But Jones was already fast and strong, at least enough to be projected as a first-round draft pick. And he was healthy, too, having never missed a game in college at Washington.

The last two years, though, have been anything but normal for Jones. Injuries have allowed seeds of doubt to be planted in one of the more resolute college corners, if judging by his college film. Part of the struggle has been remembering that guy.

“I don’t remember making this many plays last year,” Jones said. “I was still trying to feel my way just coming back. I barely played in my rookie year, and at the end of it, I was practicing on the scout team.

“But getting in the defense, making plays, it literally feels like the best I’ve done yet. Just watching myself, it’s like, ‘Damn, that’s me. I’m back.’ ”

Eagles officials, at least in their public comments, have never doubted that the 23-year-old Jones would eventually be worth the second-round selection and the redshirt year they afforded him after the Achilles injury. Last month, Howie Roseman and Joe Douglas doubled down on their support even though Jones has played in only 10 games over his first two years, with only glimpses of promise.

“You got to be patient with young players in this league,” Roseman said. “We’ve seen it with Brandon Graham. We’ve seen it with Nelson Agholor. We’ve seen that it doesn’t always click right away for everyone.

"When they have the right fortitude, when they have the talent in their body, there’s a chance for it to click. And that’s what Sidney has.”

Douglas mentioned the Colts game last September as a high point for Jones. Playing in the slot, he had four solo tackles and broke up a pass. But a week later, he struggled in an overtime loss to the Titans. And two weeks after that, he suffered the first of three hamstring strains that would sideline him for seven games total.

“He saw some tough times,” Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said Tuesday. “Persevered through it. Finished the year healthy even though he wasn’t really back on the field for us. It’s an important offseason, important training camp for him.”

With Mills (foot) and Ronald Darby (knee) recovering from 2018 season-ending injuries, Jones spent the first week of organized team activities at first-team outside corner alongside Rasul Douglas. Avonte Maddox was in the slot.

Jones hadn’t played inside until last year. He held off a late-camp charge from Maddox, but it’s hard to imagine the Eagles pegging him for the slot again, considering their investment. Mills and Darby are the incumbent starters and in contract years. But they can’t be penciled into anything until they’re back on the field.

“It’s something I’m looking forward to because I haven’t gotten the [outside] corner reps,” Jones said. “Last week, for me, personally, I was just thinking about corner every day I was going into work, mastering it to the best of my ability. And if I’m going nickel this week, I’m going with the nickel mindset.”

Tuesday, Jones defended primarily in the slot. He got matched up twice against DeSean Jackson. He had the lithe wide receiver covered like glue on the first, a red-zone pass that quarterback Carson Wentz had to throw high. But on the second play, Jackson beat Jones to a corner of the end zone.

“I was too far off,” Jones said. “He just cut right in front of my face. It was too easy.”

Contact is limited in the spring, so it will be a few months before Jones can show whether he has gotten stronger. The Eagles want corners with some brute strength — Jones says he still weighs around 180 pounds — but they must also have muscle that is durable.

Corners, as Schwartz noted, must run with world-class athletes down the field, but they also, at times, must take on 330-pound pulling guards or tackle 250-pound running backs.

“The way that you handle those things is … No. 1, [be] strong being able to take those plays on. No. 2, having the wherewithal to withstand those over the course of 16 games,” Schwartz said. “I have had some really good corners in my history. A lot of them were 400-pound benchers.

“The 400-pound bench didn’t show up in the way that they played, but it showed up in the fact that they were able to play 16 games and be on the field.”

That’s the goal, and Jones addressed his recent spate of soft-tissue injuries with the change in his offseason training. But he can’t stay fixated on the past, even if the shadow lingers until he proves he can stay healthy.

“The injuries, they happen. I’m not going to let it define me,” Jones said. “I’m still young. I still have a lot of football left to play. That’s just my mentality: try to reach my potential and actually have fun with it again.”