Packers running back Aaron Jones on Clubhouse Live: 'We've got something special going on'

Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones co-hosted Monday's Clubhouse Live, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin’s live weekly football show. 

Among the topics he touched on were Sunday's NFC title loss to San Francisco, saying goodbye, team improvement, individual expectations and the 2019 season. The show can be seen live at The Clubhouse Sports Pub & Grill in downtown Appleton or at clubhouselive.com.

Here are select and edited answers from the interview:

WATCH:  Clubhouse Live with Packers running back Aaron Jones

Q: The guys spent Monday cleaning out their lockers. It's always tough for a season to come to an end, but is that an even tougher deal knowing the locker room will look different when the 2020 season kicks off?

Jones: Definitely, and that's the reality of the NFL. You know going into it, no matter year you're in, no roster in the NFL will ever be the same. No 53-man roster will never, ever stay the same. So that's definitely the business side of it. Just enjoyed being in the locker room with all those guys - with those 53 guys for the last time - because you don't know how many people are coming back or who is and who isn't. 

Q: What happened against the 49ers? What went wrong in your viewpoint?

Jones: Football. They outplayed us. They put more points up at the end of the game. That's how you win a football game. But I don't know. They just outplayed us. They executed more than we did, and (we) just got it going too late. I feel like if we would have played how we played in the second half, it would have been a different game. 

Q: If the Niners are now the gold standard of the NFC, what's it going to take to close the gap between you and them?

Jones: Just got to continue to execute on offense, defense. Stop the run. I feel like we were moving the ball at certain points throughout the game. They didn't really stop our run game. Just got to continue to keep it going.

Q: Falling a game short of the Super Bowl stings now, but can you appreciate what you were able to accomplish as a team when you consider you were playing for a new head coach and in a new offensive system?

Jones: Definitely. This was a great season for us, a positive. Got back into the playoffs. NFC championship. So we're on the right train, right where we want to be. We've got the right guys in the locker room. And like I've said, we feel like it's only up from here. We've got something special going on. We're just excited for things to come.

Q: Between the regular season and the playoffs, you rushed for 1,202 yards and finished with 1,707 total yards and a team-record 23 touchdowns. Did you surpass your own expectations this season?

Jones: No. You set your goals high. I did meet most of my goals, but I feel like there's still a little bit left out there for me.

Q: In what ways do you want to get even better?

Jones: Just taking those little 5-yard carries or 8-yard carries and turning them to like 16-yard carries or the home run carries. Just getting better in the open field. Expanding my route tree. Just honing in on all my craft.

Q: How should we remember the 2019 Green Bay Packers?

Jones: I would say just determined. We never took no for an answer. Even this past game (against the 49ers), we're down 27-0. Most teams would lay down, but we didn't take that as an answer. We kept fighting. 

Contact Brett Christopherson at (920) 993-7117 or bchristopherson@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @PCBrettC.