Matt Jones (born March 7, 1993) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

for the

Vegas Vipers The Vegas Vipers are a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL (2020), XFL, owned by RedBird Capital, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia's Alpha Acquico, LLC. The team beg ...

of the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, and was drafted by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

in the third round of the

2015 NFL Draft The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previous ...

. He has also played for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

, and St. Louis BattleHawks.

Early years

Jones attended

Armwood High School Armwood Senior High School is a public high school located in Seffner, Florida, United States, on U.S. Highway 92. It opened in August 1984. The school is named after Blanche Armwood, a longtime Tampa resident, educator and activist. The school's ...

Seffner, Florida Seffner is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. The population was 8,362 at the 2020 census, up from 7,579 at the 2010 census. ZIP codes for the Seffner area are 33584 and 33583. Located approximate ...

, where he played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

. He helped lead Armwood to a 15-0 record and the FHSAA Class 6A Championship and #2 national ranking his senior year while rushing for 896 yards and 10 touchdowns despite missing four games and also hauling in nine catches for 197 yards and three more scores. He earned an Honorable Mention All-State honors. He also competed in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

at Armwood. Jones was rated as a four-star recruit by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

and was ranked as the 15th best running back in his class. He committed to the

to play

College career

Jones appeared in 12 games as a true freshman in 2012. He rushed for 275 yards on 52 carries with three

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

. As a sophomore in 2013, Jones played in only five games due to a

torn meniscus A tear of a meniscus is a rupturing of one or more of the fibrocartilage strips in the knee called menisci. When doctors and patients refer to "torn cartilage" in the knee, they actually may be referring to an injury to a meniscus at the top of ...

. He finished the year with 339 yards on 79 carries with two touchdowns. He returned from the injury for his junior season in 2014. In 2014, he had 166 carries for 817 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns. Jones entered the

, after his junior season.

Professional career

Washington Redskins

The

selected Jones with the 95th overall pick of the

. He signed a four-year contract on May 11, 2015. On September 20, 2015, against the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

, Jones ran 39 yards for a touchdown, which was his longest run from scrimmage. Jones would run for a career-high 123 yards and a career-high 2 touchdowns. On November 15, 2015, against the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

, Jones caught a pass and ran 78 yards for a touchdown, which was his 1st career receiving touchdown. He would finish with a career-high 131 receiving yards. On November 29, 2015, against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

, Jones caught a pass and ran for 45 yards. He finished his rookie season with 144 carries for 490 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. He began the season cemented as the starting running back after Alfred Morris left via free agency in the 2016 offseason. Jones suffered a knee injury on October 23, 2016, during a 20-17 loss to the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

. He was replaced by rookie Robert Kelley for the following game and officially lost his starting position after Kelley performed well in Jones' absence. The following week, he was relegated to the third-string behind Kelley and Chris Thompson. He finished the 2016 season with 99 carries for 460 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. On September 2, 2017, Jones was waived by the Redskins.

Indianapolis Colts

Jones was claimed off waivers by the

on September 3, 2017. He was waived on September 9, 2017 and was re-signed to the practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on September 22, 2017. He was waived by the Colts on December 2, 2017, but re-signed two days later. He finished the 2017 season with five carries for 14 yards in five games. He was waived by the Colts on May 1, 2018.

Philadelphia Eagles

On May 9, 2018, Jones signed a two-year contract with the

. He was released on September 1, 2018.

St. Louis BattleHawks

In October 2019, Jones was selected by the St. Louis BattleHawks in the

2020 XFL Draft The 2020 XFL Draft was the inaugural player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL. The draft was held on October 15–16, 2019, via conference call, with results released through the XFL's social m ...

. He was named to the mid-season All-XFL team after rushing for 314 yards and a touchdown on 80 rushes, and having 25 receiving yards and a touchdown. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

TSL Sea Lions

Jones signed with the Sea Lions of

The Spring League The Spring League was an American football developmental league and scouting event (pro showcase) that played from 2017 to 2021 and was founded by Brian Woods. Aimed at professional athletes but not paying a salary or expenses, the league's go ...

in 2021.

Vegas Vipers

Jones was selected in the fifth round of the 2023 XFL Skill Players Draft, by the

.https://www.profootballnetwork.com/xfl-2022-draft-tracker-results-and-rosters/

References

External links

Florida Gators bioWashington Redskins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Matt 1993 births Living people American football running backs Florida Gators football players Sportspeople from Hillsborough County, Florida Players of American football from Florida Washington Redskins players Indianapolis Colts players Philadelphia Eagles players St. Louis BattleHawks players Vegas Vipers players