Josh Jones

BIOGRAPHY

Josh Jones attended Southfield High School in Southfield, Michigan for his freshman and sophomore years and then spent 11th and 12th grade at Walled Lake Western High School in Walled Lake, Michigan. He played defensive back and running back. He committed to NC State University to play college football.

Jones played at NC State from 2013 to 2016. After redshirting in 2013, Jones saw his first action in 2014 and had 56 tackles and four interceptions. As a sophomore, he had 64 tackles and one interception. As a junior, he led the team with 109 tackles and three interceptions. Jones entered the 2017 NFL Draft after his junior season.

The Green Bay Packers selected Jones in the second round (61st overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft. On May 19, 2017, the Green Bay Packers signed Jones to a four-year, $4.23 million contract that included a signing bonus of $1.21 million. Jones was touted as the Green Bay Packers' backup strong safety throughout training camp. After a strong training camp, he was officially named the backup strong safety to Morgan Burnett to begin the regular season.

Jones made his professional regular season debut during the Green Bay Packers' season-opener against the Seattle Seahawks and made one solo tackle during their 17–9 victory. On September 24, 2017, Jones earned his first career start and collected a season-high 12 combined tackles (11 solo) and made two sacks on Cincinnati Bengals' quarterback Andy Dalton during a 27–24 overtime victory. Jones made his first career sack on Dalton for an eight-yard loss during the third quarter. On December 10, 2017, Jones made one solo tackle, a season-high three pass deflections, and made his first career interception during a 27–21 victory at the Cleveland Browns in Week 14. Jones intercepted a pass by Browns’ quarterback DeShone Kizer, that was originally intended for tight end Seth DeValve, which led to the Packers’ game-winning drive during overtime. He finished his rookie season in 2017 with 71 combined tackles (60 solo), five pass deflections, two sacks, and one interception in 16 games and seven starts.

Jones became the starting strong safety in Week 14 of 2018 and held the position for the remainder of the season. In Week 16, he collected a season-high 12 combined tackles (six solo) and deflected a pass during a 44–38 win at the New York Jets. He finished the season with 56 combined tackles (40 solo), two pass deflections, and one sack in 13 games and five starts.