Packers snap counts: Jones makes up for lost time in return

Aaron Jones, it is great to have you back.

In all likelihood, the Green Bay Packers probably would have been fine without him against the undermanned San Francisco 49ers on Thursday night, but his presence gave the green and gold an extra gear.

Jones looked like his regular self in the Packers’ 34-17 win over the 49ers, playing 40 of Green Bay’s 66 offensive snaps (60%). In that time he ran for 58 yards and caught five passes for 21 yards.

He also set the tone on Green Bay’s first scoring drive. All of Jones’ four touches on that series went for at least five yards and two of them resulted in first downs.

The Packers needed Jones back after he had missed the last two games with a calf injury. Green Bay backup running backs Jamaal Williams and A.J.Dillon were both out after getting placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list, so if Jones was not available then the Packers would have only had Tyler Ervin and Dexter Williams at running back.

And if that had been the case, Ervin played well enough to assume he would be productive with a bigger workload. Ervin played 22 snaps (33%) and finished with four receptions for 48 yards and 24 rushing yards. Dexter Williams had two rushes for eight yards in his for four plays (6%).

Other notes from Thursday’s snap counts:

— Despite finishing Thursday’s contest with 10 catches for 173 yards and a score, Davante Adams actually played less than his wide receiver teammate Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Adams played 50 snaps (76%) while Valdes-Scantling was on the field for 59 plays (89%). Valdes-Scantling’s plays went to good use as the University of South Florida product had two catches for 53 yards and two touchdowns.

— The Smith brothers both made plays in their time on the field. Preston Smith played 35 of the Packers’ 57 defensive snaps (61%) and registered two tackles, one pass defensed, two quarterback hits and applied pressure to Nick Mullens when he lofted an interception to Raven Greene in the second quarter. Za’Darius Smith finished with two tackles, two quarterback hits and a sack in 32 snaps (56%).

— Speaking of Greene, the third-year player out of James Madison snatched his first-career interception against San Francisco. He also had two tackles and a pass defensed in 27 snaps (47%), which was third behind starters Adrian Amos and Darnell Savage, who played 46 and 44 snaps, respectively.

— Jaire Alexander only got in 18 plays (32%) before he left the game to be evaluated for a concussion. Josh Jackson played 56 snaps (98%) and had four tackles and a pass defensed, followed by Chandon Sullivan who recorded 35 plays (61%) and Ka’dar Hollman who played 26 snaps (46%) and made two tackles.