Tony Jones played much of Seahawks’ win over Rams while legally blind

Tony Jones had 11 total snaps on special teams for the Seattle Seahawks this season, before he suddenly became the only healthy running back on the roster. In Week 12 against the Los Angeles Rams, Kenneth Walker and DeeJay Dallas sustained injuries, leaving just Jones, who hadn’t seen the field since Week 7.

He had no offensive snaps with the team, and when the broadcast team said they were able to ask how many reps he’d actually seen during the week, the response was “not many”..

Jones had 14 yards on seven carries, and dropped two 10-mile-an-hour, softball tosses sent his way in the backfield.

Turns out, he couldn’t see.

This was the hit, early in the third quarter, from Rams defensive back Russ Yeast - which makes me contractually obligated to say something about cooking, there now I’ve said it - that knocked out Jones’ contacts.

Yeast was flagged with unnecessary roughness and the play was reviewed for potential ejection. Meanwhile, Jones was shown walking off field making a very distinct “yup I think it’s gone” face for those of us who wear lenses.

Dallas was brought in on his bad ankle to help in pass protection, but the fact that the Seahawks were able to close the game on literally one blind running back makes up for the roster deficiencies on the Rams (somewhat).

Regardless, it’s cool of Jones to hang in there and even run in the right direction. Reminds me of the interview Shaun Alexander gave of his first breakaway run in college, he said he closed his eyes and hit the gap, and when he opened them he was 20 yards downfield.

Running back remains an extremely precarious position in Seattle for another couple weeks, and we should expect some kind of move to assist for at least the Carolina Panthers game.