There’s nothing like a slight to motivate a professional athlete.
When Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones scrolled through Twitter on Friday he ran across a story about a poll that ESPN conducted ranking the top 10 running backs heading into the 2023 season.
Reporter Jeremy Fowler led the survey and included executives, coaches, scouts and players.
Where was Jones on the list? Not even in the top 10.
“Northing new,” Jones tweeted in a reply that listed the top 10 players. For what it’s worth, Jones was put in the honorable mention category.
Honorable mention?
The 28-year-old Jones, who is entering his seventh season with the Packers, finished 2022 with the ninth most rushing yards (1,121) of any running back and ninth most yards of any player from scrimmage (1,516) when combined with his receiving yards.
Jones said this happens every year and always plays “myself into the Top 10.”
“But thank you for adding fuel to the fire,” his tweet concluded.
Four running backs — Jonathan Taylor, Alvin Kamara, Tony Pollard and Austin Ekeler — who finished below Jones in rushing yards last year were ranked higher than the Packers star in the survey.
Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb, who was third last year in rushing yards with 1,525 yards, is ranked No. 1.
Jones stayed on Twitter Friday to share tweets that showcase his impact over the years and why he feels disrespected.
One indicates that since 2019 Jones is the only player in the NFL to total over 4,000 rushing yards and 1,500 receiving yards.
His 47 total touchdowns (31 rushing and 16 receiving) since 2019 are third most among running backs.
Jones is one of the most productive running backs in Packers history.
He ranks third in Packers history for rushing yards (5,284) and his 43 rushing touchdowns are fourth most.
Jones didn’t stay on social media for long.
He went to work.
Jones and several of his teammates, including quarterbacks Jordan Love and Danny Etling, wide receivers Christian Watson, Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks, were participating in drills Friday at a local field in California.
They’ll all return to Green Bay in less than two weeks for the start of training camp. That’s when Jones can again show that he belonged in that top 10.
But if his NFL colleagues don’t give him that respect, those in the professional cornhole world surely will. He has advanced to the pro-am world championships set for later this summer.
Here are ESPN’s full running backs rankings.
Top 10
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Nick Chubb – Cleveland Browns
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Christian McCaffrey – San Francisco 49ers
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Josh Jacobs – Las Vegas Raiders
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Saquon Barkley – New York Giants
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Derrick Henry – Tennessee Titans
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Jonathan Taylor – Indianapolis Colts
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Alvin Kamara – New Orleans Saints
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Dalvin Cook – (Free agent)
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Tony Pollard – Dallas Cowboys
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Austin Ekeler – Los Angeles Chargers
Honorable Mention
Additional Votes
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Packers running back Aaron Jones motivated by ESPN top 10 rankings