Taiwan Asti Eric Jones (born July 26, 1988) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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)#Offense ...

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 positio ...

who is a free agent. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Eastern Washington Eagles The Eastern Washington Eagles are the intercollegiate varsity athletic teams that represent Eastern Washington University, located in Cheney, southwest of Spokane. A member of the Big Sky Conference, EWU's athletic program comprises five men's ...

and was selected by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

in the fourth round of the

2011 NFL draft The 2011 NFL draft was the 76th installment of the annual National Football League draft, 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 Rad ...

Early life

Born in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, Jones graduated from Deer Valley High School in

Antioch, California Antioch is the third-most populous city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city is located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area along the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. The city's population was 115,29 ...

, where he played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

, 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 ...

'' 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. ...

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 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 contested at ...

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 slight ...

, placing 2nd and 7th, respectively.

College career

Jones signed with

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 H ...

in 2007 as a

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

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 not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

and

The Sports Network The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by the Sports Network Inc., a subsidiary of CTV Specialty Television, which is also a joint venture of Bell Media (70%), also owned by BCE ...

. He was also a first team All-

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference, affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I with college football, football competing in the Football Cha ...

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, United States. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural Colle ...

. 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 Foot ...

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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

, 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 professional football coach and former linebacker who is the head coach of the Paris Musketeers of the European League of Football (ELF). He played college football for the USC Trojans ...

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–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

. 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 as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

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

in the wild-card round.

Buffalo Bills (second stint)

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 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.

New York Giants

On August 31, 2023, Jones was signed to 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

practice squad. For Week 1 and Week 2 games against the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

and

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

Jones was elevated from the practice squad. He was released on October 3, 2023.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

References

External links

Eastern Washington Eagles 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 Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen New York Giants players Oakland Raiders players Players of American football from San Francisco