Taiwan Asti Eric Jones (born July 26, 1988) 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 ...

and

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

in the fourth round of the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

. 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 ...

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the Hanfor ...

High school career

Born in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, Jones graduated from Deer Valley High School in

Antioch, California Antioch is the third-largest city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area along the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. The city's population was 115,291 at the 2020 Unite ...

, 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 ...

, in 2007. He was the ''

Contra Costa Times The ''East Bay Times'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California, United States, owned by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of Media News Group, that serves Contra Costa and Alameda counties, in the East Bay ...

'' Player of the Year and also earned first team

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

All-Metro honors as a running back. Jones was also named MVP of the Bay Valley Athletic League and was his team's MVP on offense. He set his school's single season record with 19 touchdowns as a two-way starter. He rushed for 1,466 yards (9.3 yards per carry) and 13 touchdowns, and also scored three touchdowns receiving and two on punt returns. On defense, Jones had 37 tackles with a sack and three interceptions. One of his interceptions he returned for a score. He led the Wolverines to a 10-0 regular season record and their first league title. In addition to football, he was also a standout athlete for the school's

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

team. At the prelims of the 2007 CIF State Track & Field Championships, he ran career-best times of 10.53 seconds in the

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

and 21.32 seconds in the

200 meters The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

, placing 2nd and 7th, respectively.

College career

Jones signed with

in 2007 as a

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

and was redshirted. Jones started four games at cornerback in 2008 after missing much of the first part of the season with a broken fibula suffered in the first week of preseason practices. In 2009, Jones was moved to

, the position he played in high school. Jones scored on an 87-yard run on his first collegiate carry and went on to earn third team All-America honors from both the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

and

The Sports Network The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language sports specialty channel established by the Labatt Brewing Company in 1984 as part of the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels. Since 2001, it has been majority-owned by comm ...

. He was also a first team All-

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eigh ...

selection. Jones finished with 1,213 rushing yards in 2009 to rank as the sixth-most in school history. He ranked in the top 10 in FCS in rushing (ninth, 101.1 yards per game), scoring (sixth, 9.50 points per game) and all-purpose yards per game (second, 195.4 yards per game). His 2,345 all-purpose yards (rushing, receiving, returns) were the second-most in school history, and his 19 touchdowns and 114 total points both rank fourth. Jones also returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown against

Northern Colorado Northern Colorado is the name for a region in the state of Colorado and a proposed state in the northeastern portion of Colorado. Region Northern Colorado is a region in the northern portion of Colorado. It borders northwestern Colorado, nort ...

. Jones finished the 2010 season with 1,742 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns during Eastern Washington's national championship season. Jones missed the semifinal and championship games with a broken foot suffered in the Eagles' FCS quarterfinals game against

North Dakota State North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as t ...

. During the game, Jones managed to rush for 230 yards. Jones was named a first team All-American and was also named the Big Sky Conference Co-Offensive Player of the Year.

Professional career

After his junior season, Jones announced that he would forgo his senior season and enter the

. Jones did not participate in the

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footba ...

due to his foot injury, but he fully participated in all drills during his pro day in mid-April.

Oakland Raiders

Jones was drafted by the

in the fourth round (125th overall) of the

. He made his NFL debut in Week 7 against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

, and saw action both running and receiving the ball, as well as on special teams. In 2013, Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie stated that Jones would switch from

to cornerback. On February 24, 2014, Jones and the Raiders agreed on a three-year contract extension. At the beginning of the Raiders' 2015 offseason activities, it was announced that new head coach

Jack Del Rio Jack Louis Del Rio Jr. (born April 4, 1963) is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football as a linebacker at the University of South ...

had switched Jones back to running back. On July 28, 2017, Jones was released by the Raiders.

Buffalo Bills

On August 2, 2017, Jones was signed by the

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

. He was placed on injured reserve on November 4, 2017, after suffering a broken arm in Week 9. On March 16, 2018, Jones re-signed with the Bills. He was named a team captain for the 2018 season for his role on special teams. He was placed on injured reserve on October 31, 2018 with a neck injury.

Houston Texans

On May 14, 2019, Jones signed with the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

. His 34-yard reception in overtime set up the Texans' winning field goal against the

in the Wild Card Round.

Buffalo Bills (second stint)

Taiwan Jones & DeAndre Carter WFT-Buffalo Bills September 2021 (cropped)

Jones re-signed with the

on March 30, 2020. In the AFC Championship against the

, Jones recovered a fumble lost by wide receiver

Mecole Hardman Carey Mecole Hardman Jr. (born March 12, 1998) is an American football wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia Bulldogs football, Georgia and was drafted by the Chiefs i ...

on a punt return during the 38–24 loss. Jones re-signed with the Bills on March 29, 2021. On April 4, 2022, Jones re-signed again with the Bills on a one year contract.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

References

External links

Houston Texans bioOakland Raiders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Taiwan 1988 births Living people American football cornerbacks American football return specialists American football running backs Buffalo Bills players Eastern Washington Eagles football players Ed Block Courage Award recipients Houston Texans players Oakland Raiders players Players of American football from San Francisco