Q&A with Caleb Jones

By: 
Bill Huber
Correspondent

Caleb Jones was a three-year starter at Indiana but went undrafted, due in part to weighing 370 pounds at pro day. With the Packers, he dropped about 35 pounds to contend for a roster spot. He failed to make the opening 53 but was promoted to the active roster for Week 1. Early in the season, he fell ill with mono and was placed on the non-football illness list. He’s back on the active roster for the stretch run.

How are you doing?

I’m feeling good.

My son had mono and it’s been a bit of a struggle with his stamina.

It’s definitely one of those things where all credit to Coach Gizzi [Green Bay’s strength and conditioning coordinator] and his staff because they were able to keep me in tip-top shape the entire time, even when I was sick.

What led you to finding out? For us, it was Google.

Yeah, for the most part. I woke up one morning and wasn’t really feeling too good. I figured it was in my best interests to go get checked with the pandemic stuff.

It’s been quite a rookie season, going from undrafted to fighting for a roster spot and eventually getting on the 53, only to get mono.

It has been a while ride, that’s for sure. There’s been a lot of ups and downs but I’ve kept my faith and I kept my faith in the organization. At the end of the day, it’s in their hands. What’s in my hands is working as hard as possible.

What’s gotten you here? You look back on your college career to now, what’s been the key?

Discipline. Just finally holding myself accountable is the main thing. I think I let myself make a lot of bad decisions in my years before, back in high school and college, that led me to not really having a handle on my weight and not really having a handle on playing my best ball. I think holding myself accountable and really looking at myself in the mirror and making good decisions has been the deciding factor in being able to keep myself here for a while.

How do you stay disciplined? It seems easy to say. I went to the store before practice for a few things and, on the day-old rack in the dairy section, are a box of crullers and I bought them. I didn’t need them. It’s hard.

It’s tough. It’s tough. I got here and I realized the challenge of how it was an uphill battle. Honestly, if I didn’t do it, I wouldn’t be able to be around here. Once that clicked for me, it kind of made it easy to make the right choices.

How long were you here until you realized that you belonged and, ‘You know what, I’m just as good as some of these other guys.’

You never know. One thing (offensive line) coach (Luke) Butkus always says, ‘If you think you’ve got it, you don’t got it.’ I just try to be the best me. That’s all I can do. I can’t compare myself to anybody else. All I can do is be the best version of myself every single day and put my best foot forward. That’s really all I can do.

Are you having fun?

Absolutely. A ball.

When was this your dream? Was football always what you wanted to do?

Yeah, it was one of those things where from a very young age that it was always my dream to play in the NFL. I think I lost sight of it maybe in my younger years. I was playing the sport but I was just kind of playing it to have fun. I didn’t think about it as, ‘Oh, man, I can’t wait to play in the NFL.’ I re-found that in high school and it started to get real with [college scholarship] offers. I knew then it was going to be a way for me to pay for my schooling and it would eventually maybe pay for my livelihood. It was one of those things where it’s always been in the back of my mind.

They didn’t need to bring you back to the 53-man roster but they must like what you’re doing. So, what’s the key for you over these next few weeks?

Just trying to get better every day. It’s truly a one-day-at-a-time mentality. I don’t want to look too far ahead. I don’t want to look past anything. I just want to show up every single day and put my best foot forward and try to make myself better and make myself into whatever it is they see in me.

AT A GLANCE

Jersey number: 72

Position: Offensive tackle

Age: 23

Season: Rookie

College: Indiana