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No end in sight for Eagles punter Donnie Jones

Punter Donnie Jones' 40.7-yard net average last season was the 11th best in the league and the fourth best of his career.

At 37, the Eagles’ Donnie Jones is the second oldest punter in the league.
At 37, the Eagles’ Donnie Jones is the second oldest punter in the league.Read moreCameron B. Pollock / Staff Photographer

At 37, punter Donnie Jones is the oldest player on the Eagles' roster, a fact that annoys his special teams buddy Jon Dorenbos to no end.

Dorenbos, also 37, is the longest tenured Eagle. He's been the team's long-snapper since 2006. But Jones, who signed with the Eagles in 2013, is 16 days older than Dorenbos.

"He always messes with me because he said one of his goals was to be the oldest guy on the team, and I've got him beat by a couple of weeks,'' Jones said with a laugh.

Jones isn't planning on going anywhere anytime soon. He signed a three-year, $5.5 million contract extension with the Eagles in November, and is hoping to play through that deal and maybe even another one.

"This is the only place I want to play,'' he said. "I want to finish my career here. My goal is to play into my 40s. I'm getting closer. We'll see.''

Jones, who is entering his 14th NFL season is the league's second oldest punter. Only Houston's Shane Lechler, who turned 41 on Sunday, is older.

But advancing age has had no impact on his punting ability. Last season, he finished 11th in the league in net average (40.7), the fourth best average of his career. Opponents returned just 39.7 percent of his punts, which was the third best return percentage of his career and the 11th best in the NFL.

"I feel really good,'' said Jones, fresh from his first massage of training camp. "You always look for ways to rejuvenate yourself. That's what I kind of do in the offseason. Look for ways to get better.''

He can thank his wife, Aubrie, for the latest way. She convinced him to try Yogalates during the offseason. Yogalates is exactly what the name suggests – a combination of the posture and breathing techniques of yoga with Pilates exercises.

"She said, 'Why don't you come and do it with me?''' Jones said. "I said, 'I'm not really interested in that.' But I finally went. Boy, it was difficult. But it was good. It's a great full-body workout. Ladies twice my age were putting me to shame in there.''

For the first time since signing with the Eagles in 2013, Jones skipped the team's voluntary spring OTAs. The popular assumption was that special teams coordinator Dave Fipp suggested he stay home in Baton Rouge and preserve his leg strength.

But that really wasn't it.

"Practice is good for everybody,'' Fipp said. "But a player like him probably needs less of it.''

Jones opted to skip OTAs so that he could spend some quality time with his kids – nine-year-old son Weston and seven-year-old daughter Addison.

"This is going to be 14 years for me,'' he said. "Time flies. When I first got here [in 2013], my son was five and my daughter was three. Now they're going to be 10 and 8 soon.

"My job is very important to me . When I'm here, I'm 110 percent all in and want to give us the best chance to be successful.

"But as my kids get older, you miss a lot playing this game. I just wanted to be there with them in the springtime and do some things I haven't gotten to do with them. That was a big reason [why I skipped OTAs]. Everybody here was great about it.''

It wasn't like the Eagles needed him during the spring. They signed rookie Cameron Johnston of Ohio State after the draft and he handled all of the punting in OTAs.

Jones admitted that, given his age, resting his leg "was actually beneficial.''

"The first day we came back here (for the start of training camp), I felt really good,'' he said. "I think sometimes it's good to take some time off and get away, as long as you keep doing things to keep your body in shape.

"As you get older, you modify some of the stuff you do and focus on flexibility and staying healthy.''

Jones has been with Fipp since the two arrived in Philadelphia three months apart in 2013. Under Fipp, the Eagles' special teams have been ranked No. 1 in the league in two of the last three seasons. They were fifth in 2015.

"For me, to get to work with him the last four years, he's been awesome,'' Jones said of Fipp. "He's been great for me not only on the field, but off the field as well.

"I kind of look at him as the brother I never had. He's a guy who really cares not only about the on-the-field product, but also about his players as people.''

Under Fipp, Jones has changed his style of punting, sacrificing distance for hang time and direction.

Jones has finished in the top 12 in gross average just once in his four years with the Eagles (seventh in 2015), but has finished in the top 12 in net average three of his four years here (sixth in '15 and ninth in '13, in addition to 11th last season).

"He's done a great job for us changing the way he's punted the ball,'' Fipp said. "He's punted with better hang time. Maybe not quite as much distance. But ultimately, the only goal that matters for us is net average.''

The Eagles had one major punt-coverage gaffe last year. That was the 65-yard touchdown return they gave up to Eddie Royal in the fourth quarter of their 29-14 Week 2 win over Chicago.

On 24 other returns, they held opponents to just 5.7 yards per return. Only one of those 24 returns was longer than 12 yards.

"Donnie's phenomenal,'' said safety Chris Maragos, one the Eagles' special teams leaders. "Just his combination of hang time and distance is really valuable for us.''

Said tight end Trey Burton, another special teams leader: "You see a lot of kickers in this league outkick their coverage, and the next thing you know, the ball comes shooting back up and they take it back to the crib. Donnie trusts us and gives us a chance to get down there and prevent a return.''

The other day, rookie running back Donnel Pumphrey asked Jones how long he'd been in the league. When the punter told him his first season was 2004, Pumphrey's jaw dropped. "He said he was seven or eight years old then (actually 10),'' Jones said with a smile.

Age is just a number. A number that doesn't seem to be having any effect on Jones' performance yet.

"Thirty-seven, I still feel really good, man,'' he said. "I feel like I'm in great shape. My leg still feels really good.

"Kicking is [about] leg speed. A lot of it, you either have leg speed or you don't. There's some ways you can improve it, but having a fast leg is the key. I was blessed with that and have worked really hard over the years to keep it.''