Matt Jones has not felt this good in months.
After suffering a serious viral infection in July, which caused him to miss all of fall camp and Florida’s season opener against Toledo on Aug. 31, Jones said Monday he is as close to being fully healthy as he has been since spring.
“It was this bye week, starting Monday,” Jones said of when he started to feel normal. “I went through practice feeling good, making the right cuts, making one cut that I usually make. Monday through Friday was the best practice I’ve had so far.”
Said coach Will Muschamp: “He had a really good off week. I think he worked extremely hard. … Coming off for him, the issues he had medically, I feel good about where he is right now.”
Jones returned against Miami on Sept. 7 but was limited throughout the Gators’ 21-16 loss to the Hurricanes in Sun Life Stadium.
The sophomore tailback carried the ball 18 times, grinding out 47 yards and fumbling on the opening drive of the game.
In addition to not feeling great physically, Jones wondered internally if he had returned too soon.
“I was thinking I wasn’t ready to come back,” Jones said. “I was thinking I wasn’t going to be back. My coaches just told me to calm down and trust yourself. Through the third or fourth quarter, I started feeling comfortable.”
Despite having a debut to forget, Jones said he was glad to have gone through a full game prior to the start of Southeastern Conference play.
No. 19 Florida (1-1) faces Tennessee (2-1) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
“It was a good thing for me to come back against Miami,” Jones said. “Getting used to the game. I needed to feel hits and how the speed of the game changed and stuff like that.”
Returning to full speed proved more challenging than even Jones expected it to be when he first became ill in July. The Seffner native spent “seven or eight days” in the hospital and lost “10-12 pounds” throughout the process.
Headaches and nausea continued to delay and frustrate Jones, who expected to enter the season as Florida’s workhorse. Jones enjoyed a successful freshman season that saw him carry the ball 52 times for 275 yards and three touchdowns while backing up Mike Gillislee in 2012.
“It was definitely hard. I put all that work in,” Jones said. “That’s the thing with football — sometimes you can have a downfall. You don’t know when you can get hurt. It’s how you overcome it and how you come back.”
Jones is still not back at his normal playing weight of 226 pounds.
He said he currently weighs 224 pounds but is confident he will finally be able to shoulder the full load asked of him.
For a Florida offense that has averaged only 192 rushing yards through two games — the third-lowest clip in the SEC — a healthy Jones will be an important addition.
“I definitely have big expectations,” Jones said.
“I want to take the team on my back now that I’m back and I feel I know how the game feels now. I have big expectations going into this game.”
Follow Phil Heilman on Twitter @phillip_heilman.
Matt Jones (24) reaches for the ball on a play-action pass from quarterback Jeff Driskel (6) during Florida’s 21-16 loss against Miami on Sept. 7 in Sun Life Stadium.
