Matt Jones

He doesn’t view fumbling as a problem, even if he’s lost two in the past two games. But Matt Jones wants to make sure it doesn’t become a bigger one, which is why he worked on it in practice Monday.

Jones fumbled in the Week 2 win over St. Louis and again against the New York Giants as he was trying to dive into the end zone. That’s why he spent part of practice working on holding the ball tighter as he dove over bags and onto a dummy bag.

“Everyone would say it’s a ball security issue now,” Jones said. “Nah, I’m not worried about that. I feel I’m getting way better with that. I feel I can be even better with the ball .... Fumbling is not an issue for me.”

Jones did not have fumbling issues at Florida, with three lost fumbles (and five overall) in 26 games. But his past doesn’t matter quite as much now, not after the last two games. The fumble against St. Louis was poked out in part because he needed to hold it tighter and because he was too upright going through the hole, leading to an easy jab by the defender, the story said. It's clear the team wants to give him work, but fumbling is something that can't continue in what now seems like a wide-open Washington backfield.