The 5-foot-7, 210-pound explosive running back is one of the most exciting young players in the league to watch and will have a chance to use Monday night as his stage to prove to the world that big things come in small packages.

Since the first time Jones-Drew walked onto a football field, he was always told that he was too small to play. However, that never stopped him from suiting up and proving that he could indeed play with the big boys.

He turned a deaf ear to the nay-sayers and showed them that he had skills.

Not in demand

Jones-Drew dominated in high school playing on the No.1 team in the country at the time, De La Salle (Concord, Cal.), where he led the team in touchdowns and averaged an insane 14 yards a carry, but still no one wanted him as a running back coming out of high school.

Jones-Drew didn't get an offer from a university until the end of his junior year. He had a phenomenal junior campaign and the only coach in the country to recognize what he had done on the field was Minnesota Vikings running backs coach Eric Bieniemy, who was, at the time, on the coaching staff at the University of Colorado and recruited Jones-Drew offering him a scholarship.

After having a big day in a high school All-Star game, all the schools in the area, USC, Cal and Oregon jumped on the bandwagon, but Jones-Drew had already committed to Colorado.

However, when Bieniemy and members of the Colorado coaching staff went to UCLA, Jones-Drew followed and that's where he excelled, becoming the Bruins' record-holder for all-purpose yards. He accomplished that feat in three seasons.

Who's a believer?

Up until now, Jones-Drew felt the only person outside his family and friends who believed in his ability on the football field was Bieniemy, who coached him for three years at UCLA.

"Bieniemy was the only one who believed in me coming out of high school and pushed me to be great. That's why I followed him to UCLA. He pushed me more than I thought that I could be pushed," Jones-Drew said.

I asked Bieniemy during an interview at the Combine before the draft how does Jones-Drew stack up to the class of running backs entering the draft. He had this to say.

"Maurice is a very special player who does everything well," Bieniemy said. "If teams look at the player and not his size, then he stacks up to this group of running backs very well. He's a difference-maker."

Jones-Drew was drafted by Jacksonville in the second-round and many believe that the only reason why he was slighted by teams in the first-round was because of his height.

Needless to say, that didn't sit well with him then and it doesn't sit well with him now.

When asked how he got through the whole draft ordeal Jones-Drew let the truth be known.

"I'm still not through it," Jones-Drew said. "At one point it hurt. Then that hurt turned into anger, and then that anger turned into motivation. Every time I step on the field it's like I have to make a believer out of everybody, players, coaches, scouts, everyone.

"It seems like even now after everything I've done no one still believes. I've done everything everyone else has done, even better, at the height that I am."

Jones-Drew wasn't lying about that. Coming into the draft he was labeled the poor-man's Reggie Bush. Well, the poor man has out-performed Bush so far this season. Jones-Drew has 967 all-purpose yards and six touchdowns to the overly hyped Bush's 909 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. Not surprising. Jones-Drew is likely to add to that total tonight.

RB Fred Taylor

embraced the rookie

"Fred has done a great job with me personally," Jones-Drew said. "He and I have bonded since camp. Like when he noticed the little things that I was doing. He was like, 'There's nothing wrong with it, but the things you were doing in college you can get away with it, but in the NFL you can't get away with it.'

"He has been teaching me a lot of different things and I appreciate him for that, because some guys could take it personal that the team drafted a running back. When Fred was like, 'I've been here for a while and I want to help you out. I don't want you to come in here and be all messed up. I want you to come out here and be ready to perform'"

One of the things that Taylor was quick to point out to the rookie is the way to run in the open field at the pro level. In college, when Jones-Drew would break a run and open up in the open field with his 4.3 speed, no one was going to catch him. In the pros, however, it's a different story. Everyone is fast.

Jones-Drew said in the NFL when he opened up on a run there would be four or five guys on him, so he learned from Taylor that he had to run a little bit lower for longer and not to run straight up all the time when he feels that he can break one.

Like Keyshawn, get Jones-Drew the damn ball

With the Jaguars' offense sputtering a bit, they must find a way to get the ball in Jones-Drew's hands more often. It's not a matter of if he is going to make a big-play, but when.

All the talk about him being too short is starting to come to a soft whisper around the league because the Jags haven't been shy about letting him tote the rock in short yardage/goal line situations.

His low center of gravity, lower-body strength and leverage makes him that much tougher to bring down in these types of situations. He is a big-play threat any time the ball is in his hands and is electrifying in the open field.

Just ask the Indianapolis Colts, who he ripped up for 244 all-purpose yards and a touchdown. If the Jags utilize him properly, sit back and watch the fireworks.

Character

I must say, you rarely find such maturity in a 21-year old like Jones-Drew and for me it was quite refreshing. He is very humble and is a firm believer in perseverance.

That was evident when he told me the book that he was reading, "Forty Million Dollar Slaves." The book is about how sports stardom has brought black athletes wealth without progress and prosperity without freedom.

Jones-Drew made it clear that he is hungry and that he is never going to be comfortable thinking that he has made it now that he's in the NFL.

He is going to keep working hard until working hard is no longer an option.