Julius Jones adds juice to Seahawks' running game

KIRKLAND — There's a chip the size of Texas on Julius Jones' shoulder. And he's the first one to admit it.

But one doesn't have to listen to Jones. Just watching the Seahawks' new running back is enough to see his motivation.

Jones blasts into the pile like he was shot out of a cannon. He's only 5 feet 10 and 208 pounds, but he'll take on anyone in his way and only ducks contact when he can jitterbug his way around someone in the open field. The delight he takes when he bowls over a teammate in practice is seen in the smile through his facemask.

Jones might just be what the Seahawks have been looking for in their running game — a compact, tough guy with open-field speed who runs north-south. Motivation to succeed is no issue at all.

"The whole way everything went down in Dallas with me, I didn't really leave there on the note I wanted to leave," said Jones, whom the Seahawks signed as an unrestricted free agent from the Cowboys in March. "And there are just some things that I'll never forget that happened to me there. And I'm going to play like that. And they're going to be able to tell, and you guys will be able to tell, too."

Jones rushed for 1,084 yards as a Cowboy in 2006, but saw his role diminished as Dallas gave the ball to Marion Barber more often last season. Jones started all 16 regular-season games in 2007, but his production was cut nearly in half, as he ran for 588 yards.

In Jones' last game as a Cowboy — the team that drafted him in the second round in 2004 — he had just three carries for 8 yards.

The handwriting was on the wall. Jones' time in the Big D was up. Seattle was his choice, a place where he has had some of his greatest games. Jones plowed through the Seahawks on "Monday Night Football" in 2004 for 198 yards and the game-winning touchdown. A little over three years later in a playoff game at Qwest Field, Jones gained 112 yards in a wild-card loss to the Seahawks.

Lofa Tatupu, the Seahawks' middle linebacker, remembers trying to hit Jones in that NFC wild-card game.

"You didn't realize how powerful he was," Tatupu said. "He's a pretty compact package, and he brings it every down. His vision jumps out at you a little more, especially when you're watching the practice cut-ups [films].

"You can tell he's got a little attitude with him, and you like that."

Jones is the big-name back brought in to replace Shaun Alexander, but he will still split at least some of the ball-carrying duties with Maurice Morris this season. Jones will start tonight's exhibition game against Chicago after Morris started last week and turned in a noteworthy effort with 62 yards on six carries, making his case to be the Week 1 starter. The team also has to factor in T.J. Duckett and fullback Leonard Weaver.

"I kind of know what I'm asking Mo [Morris] and Julius to do," Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said. "In this day and age, you want to be the man, you know, and I'm going to play both of them. ... It'll certainly help our football team if I can keep them both fresh and somewhat healthy through the course of the season by doing it this way."

For now, Jones is adjusting to life with a new team in a very new place. Seahawks training camp is quiet — no fans, a handful of reporters, college dorms, shared bathrooms and little else as far as atmosphere. Cowboys camp — be it in California or Texas — bustles with fans of America's Team, folks who come from far and wide.

"The atmosphere out there is like a circus," Jones said. "Not in a bad way, but people will take their summer vacation to come watch the Cowboys do training camp, if that tells you anything. Here, you might get a couple families coming to watch practice, but here you get to know your teammates really well. There's no outside distractions or anything like that. It seems to work really well for me."

Jones, whom Seahawks running-backs coach Kasey Dunn called a "violent runner," wants to prove that he can be the same back that he was before the emergence of Barber. As a rookie in 2004, he missed half the season with injury but still rushed for 819 yards. He also has 84 catches for 672 yards in his career.

"I feel like a rookie again, you know what I mean?" Jones said. "I feel like I have something to prove. Every day out here I play with a chip on my shoulder. I run hard, I block hard, I practice hard. I'm performing as if no one's ever seen me play before."

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com