Undrafted rookie receiver Andy Jones trying to make impression with Cowboys

Andy Jones’ name is as common as they come. And as a “late bloomer” in football, Jones hasn’t exactly made a name on the field.

The receiver drew interest from two colleges after starting only one season in high school. Jones chose Jacksonville University, which plays FCS football in the non-athletic-scholarship Pioneer Football League.

The Dallas Cowboys, though, have kept up with this Jones for a long time.

Of the 14 undrafted free agents Dallas signed, Jones received the highest signing bonus at $15,000. The Cowboys had a “draftable grade” on Jones, one of five undrafted players with that distinction they signed.

“He has a lot of physical traits,” receivers coach Derek Dooley said. “The biggest thing with him was he came from a I-AA program, so he didn’t get a lot of the attention, didn’t quite have the production, didn’t have the exposure, probably didn’t have the development in a lot of ways. So we’re excited to see where he can go from here.”

Jones admits to having wide eyes his first few days at Valley Ranch. It started when he saw a No. 81 jersey hanging in the locker he shares with second-year offensive lineman Chaz Green.

Hall of Famer Jackie Smith, Terrell Owens and Raghib Ismail all wore the number for the Cowboys, if only briefly.

Reality continued for Jones when he looked inside his locker.

“I kind of had a small school moment,” Jones said. “I look at the towels, and they had my number on it. I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, my towel has my number.’ They were like, ‘What school did you go to?’ I was like, ‘Oh well.’

“But yeah, I guess it’s definitely humbling to be in here right now. It’s kind of still surreal a little bit, but I’ve got to definitely work and work some more.”

Rookie free agents have made good in Dallas over the years. The Cowboys’ 2015 roster had 19 players they acquired as undrafted college free agents, including Tony Romo, Jeff Heath, Lucky Whitehead, La’el Collins, Barry Church, Lance Dunbar, Dan Bailey and Cole Beasley.

Jones was one of four receivers the Cowboys signed as undrafted free agents last month after not drafting one. He will get a fair shake at making the 53-player roster.

Starter Terrance Williams is in the final year of his contract, and Devin Street has made only nine catches for 132 yards and one touchdown in the two seasons since the Cowboys made him a fifth-round pick.

“It doesn’t matter where you came from if you come in here to work,” Jones said. “I feel blessed to be here, so I’m not going to lose out on that.”

Jones caught 144 passes for 2,120 yards and 17 touchdowns in 41 games. He received an invite to the University of Florida’s Pro Day, where he measured 6-foot-1, weighed 211 pounds, ran 40-yard dash times of 4.53 and 4.54 and had a 40  1/2-inch vertical jump and a 10-foot-7 broad jump in turning the heads of the 70 scouts on hand.

“He seems like he’s a talented guy,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “He’s a big, strong, sturdy-looking receiver. He’s a good athlete. Again, he’s coming from a long way off. He played at a smaller school.”

Miles Austin played at Monmouth College in New Jersey. It took him four years after he signed with the Cowboys, but he ended up playing eight seasons in Dallas and caught 301 passes for 4,481 yards and 34 touchdowns.

“We sort of have these data points at receiver that we always look at it, and it’s no different than what anybody would think of,” Dooley said. “It’s their size, their speed, their athleticism, their hands. And he’s got a lot of good physical traits, physical combination of traits he brings, and now it’s a matter of can he take those traits and apply them into being a good receiver. That’s a big jump.

“But he certainly seems to have the makeup to do it, and he’s got the traits to do it. So we’ll just see if he can.”

This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 8:00 PM with the headline "Undrafted rookie receiver Andy Jones trying to make impression with Cowboys."