[Times photo: Toni Sandys]
Thomas Jones pulls out of the grasp of Texans linebacker Troy Evans.
TAMPA - You were willing to believe. All you needed was a reason.
It need not be dramatic. Not even noteworthy. Just a feeling, some vague sense, that Thomas Jones was not as insignificant as his career suggested. That in a league of interchangeable pieces, he was not a throwaway part.
So you watched. You watched to see if he could survive between the tackles. To see if he could find holes, catch passes and pick up blitzes. You watched, basically, to see if he could turn a corner and run to daylight again.
And now, today, there is reason.
Enough reason to believe Jones is Tampa Bay's best back.
The depth chart does not yet acknowledge it. The coaches are not willing to say it. But there was enough evidence in the preseason to suggest Jones has the most potential of any running back on the roster.
On a team with more answers than questions, this was the mystery of the preseason. The one story line with more intrigue than assumption.
Jones made it to Tampa Bay because he could not make it in Arizona. On a list of warning signs, that one would be boldfaced, capitalized and punctuated with an excess of exclamation marks.
It is not often a player unable to find his footing in one of the league's worst huddles can make an impression on the Super Bowl champions.
But in a month's worth of preseason games, Jones did not just earn a roster spot. He may have found a long-term home.
"When he was coming in the league, I was one of the guys who told the Cardinals to draft him. I understood his ability," said defensive end Simeon Rice, who played with Jones in Arizona. "In terms of what he has right now? He has it all. He's playing with a lot of energy, he has new life.
"I'm telling you, he is head and shoulders one of the best backs in this league. And you'll soon find that out."
It was not any one thing Jones did. Oh, there were a few highlights along the way, including Thursday night when he rescued a scrambling Shaun King with a 15-yard reception. And he did finish as Tampa Bay's leading rusher in the preseason with 186 yards and 4.4 yards per carry.
The greater impression was of things to come. You see it in the way he hits holes. The way he takes on blitzing linebackers. The way he appears willing to suppress his ego to fit in as a role player.
"What you're seeing is for real," running backs coach Kirby Wilson said. "He's not a guy who has talent and doesn't want to work. Doesn't really like football, just likes the paycheck. No. This guy is for real."
Today, he may be for real. A few yesterdays ago, he was a mirage.
A back with a marvelous body to behold on the field and yet a horrible body of work on his resume. The No. 7 pick in the 2000 draft, Jones started slowly in Arizona. And then things got worse.
Each season would begin with Jones in Arizona's starting lineup, yet the calendar never seemed to end that way. He was unproductive. He was unhealthy. By the time the Cardinals decided to get rid of him, he also was accused of being untrustworthy and unapproachable.
The Cardinals spent months trying to give him away. You got the feeling they would have cut him if they weren't worried about looking foolish for wasting a high draft pick. Finally, the Bucs offered a little - a slow, stiff receiver with no chance of making the team - and got a lot in return.
At the time, Jones was sort of a worst-case scenario. If Michael Pittman landed in jail, if no one else picked up the slack, if the Bucs were desperate, then maybe Jones could get them through a rough spell.
More and more, it's looking as if Pittman will be able to delay his day in court. And, yet, it looks less and less necessary.
Pittman, to his credit, has had a strong preseason. He is hitting holes without hesitation and moving a step faster than your memory of him. He has proven to be adequate. Steady, if not impressive. Durable, if not flashy.
And that's the whole point.
For all the big names on the roster, this offense has a tendency to plod. To move with precision, but without much spark. The quarterback does not scramble. The receivers are not known for getting deep.
Jones is capable of more. Of much more. He has the speed to give Tampa Bay another dimension on offense. And let's face it: Even if they handed out those plastic movie glasses, this offense would not look three-dimensional.
Jones is 24 and getting younger by the day. He is prompting memories of his college days at Virginia. He has given hope to the thought he was miscast in Arizona. And that inside that body, a phenomenal runner resides.
For now, Jones remains at the back of the depth chart. Behind Pittman. Behind Aaron Stecker, too.
Maybe that is where he will remain. Maybe he will be exactly what the Bucs anticipated. A nice insurance policy should Pittman be jailed or suspended.
