It was clearly a bittersweet accomplishment.
Detroit Lions’ wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. achieved a personal milestone – his first season with 1,000 yards receiving in his career. Additionally, he did so against his former team, the Cincinnati Bengals.
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Of course, that may be the only positive following another massive letdown that saw the Lions’ dwindling playoff hopes officially disappear with a sloppy 26-17 loss to an opponent that had already long been eliminated from playoff contention. Afterwards, Jones wasn’t exactly in a celebratory mood for his milestone.
“It really doesn’t mean anything right now,” Jones said on Sunday following the game. “After the season, I’ll look back on my accomplishments. I needed 30 yards. I would’ve hit it anyway.”
Jones has caught 57 balls for 1,020 yards and eight touchdowns this season for the Lions, who have just one game remaining on their schedule before their season draws to an official close. The personal accolades may be nice, but they don’t ease the disappointment and frustration of not winning.
“It is what it is,” Jones continued. “It’s a personal accomplishment, but at the same time we’re here to win games. That all takes care of itself, like I said way back. We have another game left and we have to go after it.”
Though the Lions have nothing left to play for in terms of the standings, Jones can still pad his stats a little bit in Detroit’s season finale against the Green Bay Packers on New Years Eve at Ford Field. He’ll need eight catches to match his career high, which he previously set with Bengals with 65 catches.
In addition to Jones, receiver Golden Tate can also add a bit of positivity to an otherwise dreary-looking Lions’ stat sheet – should he get 101 yards on Sunday, it will mark just the second time since 2006 that the Lions have had two 1,000-yard receivers. He’ll also need just five catches to give him his fourth straight 90-catch season.
