NASHVILLE – They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and in the case of Titans center Ben Jones as it relates to his toughness, the adage fits perfectly.
A photo of Jones from the team's game at Seattle – his mouth open, screaming, his right leg pinned under a Seahawks player, his body twisted – exemplifies what Jones is all about.
Jones didn't leave that game – he played in 88 of the team's 88 offensive snaps that day.
Over the course of his 10-year NFL career, No.60's toughness has been on full display.
On Tuesday, Titans offensive line coach Keith Carter put it into words.
"Coaching this game and at this level, you are around a lot of tough people," Carter said. "But I've never been around anybody as tough as Ben. My hat goes off to him. I have more respect for him than I could possibly say in words. He is the toughest son of a gun, man. He is just made of the right stuff. It's a chip on his shoulder. He is fighting through pain, not being helped off the field, getting back up … that is a source of self-pride for him. As we can all tell and witness with our own eyes, he is tougher than hell, man."
Jones has started all five games for the Titans this season, and he's started 88 of a possible 89 games since joining the Titans prior to the 2016 season. Jones has regularly appeared on injury reports, and he's left games for short periods of time.
But again and again, Jones has proven to be a gamer.
"Ben is about as tough as they come," Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. "You see him battling through constantly. … It feels like every game or every couple games there is an instance where he gets rolled up on, twists an ankle, MCL, I don't know I am just making stuff up, but something goes wrong and he has an injury.
"Then you see him in the huddle, he is gritting. 'Ben, are you OK? Do you need to go down?' And he is, 'No, I am good.' He has got this face on like he just bit into the world's sourest lime or lemon, but he is gutting it out. The guys in the huddle, they see that. We realize how tough he is and thankful we have a guy that wants to battle it out out there with us and really set the tone up front."
Jones, who played in college at the University of Georgia, said he takes pride in playing, no matter the pain.
"If I am able to get up, I am going to get up," Jones said. "I just want to be out there. I want to win games, and I want to win a championship."
It turns out not much has slowed down Jones, who grew up in Centreville, Alabama.
Even as a youngster, Jones always kept going no matter what. In fact, the football field was probably a little safer then.
"Growing up on the football, it wasn't football and sports (where I got hurt)," Jones said with a smile. "I hit a barbed wire fence on a bicycle and cut my throat open really bad. Two weeks later I get hit in the head with a baseball bat and had brain surgery. I remember the doctor was worried about the big cut on my neck, he was like: "What is going on with this kid?" I had a broken leg for a year-and-a-half in high school and thought it was shin splints, and had to get my tibia taken out. So I've had some stuff, but I just wanted to play.
"If I wasn't playing (sports) in high school, I was on the farm working. So, I wanted to go play sports, I didn't want to be at home."
