Professor

Jones is taking steps as he plays a waiting game

excerpt:

ALLEN PARK -- For two months, Kevin Jones lay in bed with his foot elevated and crutches nearby.

On good days, he hobbled to the couch to watch television.

On special days, he was driven to his parents' house or rehabilitation.

But mostly, he waited -- with screws, pins and stitches -- for his injured foot to heal.

It was painful. For the first time since he was 9, Jones wasn't training for or playing football.

It's painful now, too.

Eight months after undergoing surgery -- he suffered a Lisfranc fracture, which involves a cluster of bones and connective tissue on the top of his left foot, on Dec. 10 -- Jones is taking steps to return to the field for the Lions.

In fact, Jones is running at near full speed, and this week caught passes and made cuts on the artificial turf at the Lions' practice facility.

Still, it's not certain when Jones will return -- could it be for the opener Sept. 9 in Oakland? Or will it be later?

"I am just trying to reprogram my foot and my body to getting back to doing what I do," Jones said. "It is difficult. But I tell the linebackers they got it easy this year because I am not out there banging with them. Usually I give them hell in practice."

Jones wants to keep his job and make Tatum Bell, who proclaimed himself to be "The Man" among Lions running backs, eat his words.

One minute, Jones was "The Man," the running back of the future for the Lions. The next, he watched Bell come in and take over.

"He is doing everything he can to get back," defensive tackle Cory Redding said of Jones. "But it is a process.

"He has to be smart and let it run its course so that when he takes the field again he can be one of the dominant backs in the NFL."

Unreasonable stretch

The injury Jones suffered normally takes a year to 18 months to recover from. But in Jones' eyes, that wasn't acceptable.

During past offseasons, Jones grew accustomed to the brutish regime of running hills, carrying concrete slabs around and running on the track in 90-degree heat -- with his father barking instructions.

Not this winter. Jones was helpless. He couldn't help his pregnant wife, Robyn. He couldn't fix his own meals.

His family members tried to get his mind off the injury. They talked fishing and bowling and politics.

Football was off limits.

But holding his newborn son, Kevin Jr., put life into perspective for Jones.

"Hearing me say that you need to do this or that to get back is not going to work," said his father, Thomas Jones. "What am I going to say?

"I told him, 'Don't come back until it feels right. There is no use in doing something to jeopardize your career.' "

Said Kevin Jones: "It is pretty much going to be on me. I know how I feel better than anybody."

Just a spectator

So now, Jones waits.

He runs and cuts, hoping the next step -- the next quick step -- is putting on the pads for full-contact drills.

He listens to the barking and banter of camp around him. He sprints from sideline to sideline. He lifts weights, tests the foot and waits for the day when he feels comfortable going to coaches and telling them he wants in.

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