THOMAS JONES is an iron tank with an iron will, 220 pounds of pride and passion and swagger who stands up unflinchingly to the violent mayhem of sadistic behemoths, who keeps coming as if he were the Smokin’ Joe Frazier of the NFL, so strong of body, mind and spirit that when fatigue makes cowards of them all, Jones is no longer the hunted, but the hunter.
“I’m kinda like an animal or something who senses a prey’s getting tired of chasing,” the Jets running back told The Post, “and you know you’re like going for the kill. That’s how I feel if I’m in a zone in the third or fourth quarter . . . I know it’s only a matter of time before something’s gonna happen — long run, touchdown. . . . I’ve had that feeling ever since I’ve been playing football. That’s one of those things where you get in a zone sometimes, there might not be great blocking, but if you’re in that zone, you feel like as long as you don’t get hit in the backfield you’re gonna make something happen. It’s great to be in that place, because you’re just playing, you’re not even thinking about what you’re doing, you’re just reacting.”
The signs of surrender are unmistakable to Jones: “Just guys missing tackles, or taking the wrong angles. Guys getting up slow after the play. Guys aren’t [trash] talking as much. . . . Third and fourth quarter, guys aren’t saying as much.”
As the Jets prepare to face the Jaguars on Sunday at Giants Stadium, Jones is the AFC’s No. 4 rusher, with 704 yards on 149 carries. He also has seven rushing touchdowns. Practice makes perfect.
“I’m acting like it’s a game, I’m finishing my runs 20, 30 yards down the field, so in the third and fourth quarter, my confidence goes up, where a lot of people’s confidence can go down,” Jones said. “Mine spikes.”
He is the intense, driven, emotional son of coal miner parents, maniacal in the weight room, insatiable in the film room, blue-collar all the way. “I think once you lose the love for the game, it’s time to hang it up,” Jones said.
He demands calm just before the storm. “I’m cool during the week until I get to Saturday,” Jones said. “Saturday after we have our walkthrough here in the morning, when I go home, I usually take a nap, watch a little college football. By the time I get to the hotel for the night meetings, I’m pretty much in game mode. So my family, they pretty much stay away from me.”
Finally, Gameday. “I kinda become like a zombie,” Jones said. “I’m just kinda zoned out. For those three hours, there’s nothing else going on in my head. Before every game, I listen to the song by Eminem called ‘Lose Yourself,’ and every word in that song is how I feel when I go out there. . . . ‘Lose yourself in the moment, you better never let it go, you only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime . . . ‘ So that phrase is what I’m thinking when I come out of the tunnel. . . . ‘Cause when you’re done playing football, you don’t get those times back.”
Times when you bond with your fullback and offensive linemen. “We’re kinda like a machine,” Jones said.
Times when you bring all your teammates together with pregame words of inspiration from the heart. “Just basically letting them know, ‘Look, this is a great opportunity for us, not only to win a football game, but to play together as a family,’ ” Jones said.
He is 31 years old, in the third year of a four-year, $20 million deal, but how can the Jets afford to say goodbye? “I’d love to retire a Jet, I love playing for this team, I love playing in New York City,” Jones said.
He does not fear Father Time. He stiff-arms him instead.
“You’re as good as you think you are,” Jones said. “The mind is a very powerful thing, very powerful — a lot of people underestimate it. You look at it, and statistics say this, the numbers say this, but what does the person say?”
What do the people that play with him say?
Former Bears teammate Antonio Garay: “I was there two years with Thomas, and I was there one year without Thomas, and we were a totally different team. He demands and commands the best from the guys that he plays with.”
Jets tackle Damien Woody: “That’s a tough dude. He’s willing to run through a brick wall. I’m glad I have him as a running back on my team. . . . I wouldn’t want anybody else.”