Five months after surgery to reconstruct the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, Jones was running. And he wasn’t just jogging on flat grass. He was bursting up hills. He was changing direction – left, right, backward, forward. He looked far ahead of schedule in his recovery, and you had to wonder if he would make the Lions regret cutting him.

Jones, a first-round pick in 2004 who has suffered two major injuries in two seasons, hopes to show NFL teams that he will be ready for training camp in July and is worth a decent contract. He plans to work out for them June 28 in Saline.

“I’m not even worried about my knee,” Jones said. “The only thing maybe I have some hesitation about is getting in contact and stuff like that because I haven’t done that. But that’s just the next hurdle. I’ve already overcome. As you guys saw today, I was running, sprinting.”

The man working with Jones, Dr. D.S. Ping, has no doubt Jones will be ready.

“I know the NFL will be shocked,” Ping said. “He can go into camp right now, and all he’s got to do is learn the plays and just get into more conditioning of football shape in the respect of if they tag him a couple times or what have you.”

Jones suffered a serious injury to his left foot in December 2006. He worked with Ping and came back by Week 3.

Then he suffered the torn ACL on Dec. 23 against Kansas City and had surgery shortly afterward. Dr. James Andrews of Birmingham, Ala., took part of his patella tendon and reconstructed the ligament.

Jones said the Lions’ doctors told him he would be out about a year.

“I think they were concerned about my foot and my knee being a factor at the same time, and it kind of just ended on that,” Jones said.

The Lions released Jones in March, even though they had already paid him a $100,000 roster bonus. He said they gave him two reasons: the salary cap and his injuries. He had one year left on his contract and was scheduled to make a base salary of $2.37 million.

Jones was surprised and disappointed in the decision by president Matt Millen and coach Rod Marinelli.

“I was upset just because I thought I knew them better than that,” Jones said. “I thought Rod and Millen and things like that would give me a chance to come back. Just letting me go when I was hurt kind of pissed me off. But I don’t have any animosity. I’ll see them again someday on the field or something. I’ll take it out then. …

“Fair? I’m not going to whine about it being unfair or anything like that. I’m not whining. My focus right now is not even on them. My focus is getting back and getting on a team, getting a chance to start my career over. I’m still young, only 25, so I’ve got a lot of games left.”

Jones works out with Ping six days a week in Saline. He does martial arts training Mondays and Wednesdays. He uses hydraulic machines Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. He uses free weights Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. He also runs and swims.

This morning, Jones worked with two other former Lions – offensive lineman Barry Stokes and running back Anthony Sherrell, both Eastern Michigan products.

Before the workout, Ping said: “I know people are saying it takes a year, a year and a half. But I’m telling you guys, when you see him today … I’m sticking my neck way out in a respect to say that. But I believe that, and he believes in it.”

Jones, Stokes and Sherrell used the hydraulic machines in Ping’s basement. It looked like a scene out of a “Rocky” movie, as they sweated and grunted with plain lightbulbs overhead, cement and spare pieces of carpet under their feet, and typical basement stuff all around – bags of fertilizer, a dusty wine rack, mementos. Jones pushed his knee hard as music blared from an old stereo.

Afterward, Jones sat on a table and received heat acupunture. Ping puts his hand over a flame in a small box, then puts his hand on Jones' knee. Jones describes the feeling as a hot needle pinpointing his problem area.

Then Jones, Stokes and Sherrell went outside to an adjacent golf course. They did some jogging. They sprinted uphill. They burst up a pair of small hills – tee boxes – in a tougher version of the 40-yard dash.

Before a couple of sprints, Jones yelled out “Colletto,” referencing new Lions offensive coordinator Jim Colletto. He said it wasn’t personal, but it was motivating to prove someone wrong.

“Before I got let go, the weeks leading up to that, I would hear him on the Internet or on the Web site saying that, ‘We need a back who can make people miss. We need a back who can take it the distance,’ ” Jones said. “Well, I’m on the team. I’m the starting running back. He’s basically saying you don’t need me, you need somebody else. So I’m going to show him that I am that back, that I can do those things.”

Jones finished by doing a change-of-direction drill, then headed off to swim.

He has already visited New England and Tennessee. He said he has received some contract offers, but none good enough. He thinks when teams see how he has recovered, the numbers will rise.

“I’m not trying to break the bank, but I’m not about to go anywhere just to go, just because there’s a team out there and I haven’t gotten picked up yet,” Jones said. “I know my worth. A lot of the teams know my worth, but they figure, ‘OK, you’re hurt right now. We’ll bring you in.’ They’re just going to lowball you. But that’s not happening with me.

“If that’s the final thing after they know that I’m healthy and that’s all that’s out there, am I going to take it? Yeah. I’ve got to, then, at that point. I’ve still got family to take care of. I’m not going to just sit out.

“But I’m pretty sure that a team is not going to react that way when they know that I’m working hard and that I’ve gotten back and I’m healthy and I’m going to be able to contribute. There’s no way.”

WATCH JONES WORK OUT