Is the ‘old Jordan Jones’ back for UK? Yes, but with a bit of a twist.

Jordan Jones might never lead Kentucky in tackles again like he did as a sophomore.

During that breakout season, the Cats linebacker stockpiled them, getting 109 tackles, including 15.5 for loss and four quarterback sacks.

He was all over the field, but he doesn’t necessarily have to do that these days.

“Everybody’s used to (Jones) being a tackling machine,” Coach Mark Stoops said on his radio show last week, “but our team’s making more tackles, they’re spread out.”

And then there’s the issue of Jones still coming back from shoulder surgery this offseason and then being limited in fall camp by other injuries.

There are signs that he’s bouncing back, though, like the another eight-tackle game in the upset win over No. 14 Mississippi State on Saturday night, or the career-high four pass breakups in the victory the week before over Murray State.

“I just saw the old Jordan Jones back,” fellow inside linebacker Kash Daniel said of the senior after that win over the Racers.

“The guy’s been through a lot of ups and downs this offseason with the injuries and stuff like that, so to see him go out and do his thing last Saturday, to see the old Jordan Jones was really fun to see.”

But it’s not totally “the old Jordan Jones.”

It’s Jordan Jones with a twist.

“I’m glad I’m finally not getting penalties and stuff,” said Jones, who became almost as well known for his discipline problems on the field as his tackle collection. “I’m playing the game how it’s supposed to be played.”

In his first interview in nearly a year, the 6-foot-2 Kentucky senior from Youngstown, Ohio, said he’s working hard to put that part of himself in the rearview mirror.

Like the part that involved in a brawl on the field with Louisville players including quarterback Lamar Jackson as well as other issues like “undisciplined penalties,” as his head coach dubbed them.

There were others, too, like a back-and-forth with Southern Miss fans on the road that included him spitting and cursing at them last season.

Jones hopes he’s turned a corner on all of that.

“I just realized it wasn’t only hurting me, but it was also hurting my teammates,” Jones said after the victory over the Bulldogs at Kroger Field on Saturday. “Getting 15-yard penalties. You saw it today, Mississippi State kept getting like 15-yard penalties and kept helping us out. I just realized that it’s not only hurting me, it’s just hurting my team.”

Jones still comes with boundless energy. He can still be seen having animated conversations with teammates and opposing players on a regular basis, but coaches seem optimistic that he has matured.

“He’s doing some good things, he’s been more disciplined,” defensive coordinator Matt House said last week of Jones, who is fourth on the team in tackles this season with 24. “We certainly need him to continue to do that and improve even more.”

With Jones missing so much of the spring and parts of the fall coming back from injuries, there wasn’t a ton of time for UK’s inside linebackers to develop the kind of communication and rapport they need to play effectively together.

But Jones made it easy, said Daniel, one of the few new starters on UK’s defense.

“We had to get the chemistry part down real quick,” Daniel said. “I love playing with Jordan. He brings that energy, brings that edge. Whenever I feel down, he always picks me up.”

It’s been a good mix in the middle for No. 17 Kentucky, which faces South Carolina at Kroger Field on Saturday night.

“I think they’re working well together,” Stoops said of Daniel and Jones. “The two of them together, I’m happy with.”

As for Jones, he’s just happy to be playing again.

“It was pretty tough having to get treatment and stuff everyday, getting down on myself just because I wasn’t healthy, but I kept putting in work every day and then everything worked out for the best,” the senior said.

Jones is working on himself in other ways, too.

“I just learned a lot from last year,” he said. “I was a whole different person, a whole different player, too.”

Saturday

South Carolina at No. 17 Kentucky

7:30 p.m. (SEC Network)

This story was originally published September 24, 2018 at 11:16 AM.