Jones has career day in Durham

Patrick Jones wasn’t worried about the stats.

Sure, it was a little strange to see Jones, the redshirt junior defensive end who was expected to produce impressive numbers in his first year as a starter, put up just 2.0 sacks through the first five games of the season. He had 4.0 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss in a reserve role last year, and his per-snap numbers were better than just about anyone on the defense other than Rashad Weaver.

So when Jones took the starting job left vacant by Dewayne Hendrix, he was expected to put up numbers right away. That expectation - and the need for Jones to produce - only grew when Weaver was lost for the season with a training camp injury.

But while everyone else on Pitt’s defensive line was feasting, Jones was relatively quiet. Jaylen Twyman led the way with 6.0 sacks. Fellow ends Deslin Alexandre and Habakkuk Baldonado each had 3.5. Even linebacker Kylan Johnson had more than Jones with 4.0.

Jones wasn’t completely silent, though; he officially recorded 11 quarterback hurries and Pro Football Focus had him in the top three nationally in pressures, so he was impacting the backfield. The only thing missing was the sack production.

On Saturday night at Duke, the production came. Jones led the way on a strong defensive performance by recording the first multi-sack game of his career, getting to Blue Devils quarterback Quentin Harris twice.

And Jones made it count, too: both of his sacks came with the added bonus of knocking the ball out, and both times Jones’ teammates recovered it.

So Jones’ final stat line was as follows: six tackles, five solo stops, two sacks, two forced fumbles.

That’s a productive day, with career highs in every one of those stat categories. But for Jones, it was just another day at the office.

“I just came in with the mindset I come in with every game: just keep trying to give it my all and eventually it will come,” he said Saturday night after the game. “I don’t really go in the game looking for numbers; I go in the game trying to get a win for the team.”

Jones had a big hand in getting the win for the team. His first forced fumble was recovered by Deslin Alexandre and set up Pitt’s offense at the Duke 7 early in the third quarter. Two plays later, the Panthers scored to extend their lead to 26-3.

And his second strip-sack came on Duke’s final play of the game: Harris dropped back to pass on third-and-10 from the Duke 25 with time running out in the fourth quarter and Jones got to him. Phil Campbell recovered that fumble, putting the finishing touches on a comeback victory.

“I was just glad the team came out with a win,” Jones said. “That’s all I was worried about.”

Now Jones enters the off week with 4.0 sacks and 5.0 tackles for loss on the season. His sacks are tied with Johnson for second-most on the team, and Jones’ tackles for loss are tied with Baldonado for third. Jones and Johnson are tied for fourth in the ACC in total sacks this season, and Pitt’s defense as a whole leads the conference in total sacks while trailing Virginia in sacks per game by just a few decimal points.

“For sure, we’re ‘QBK’,” Jones said. “The D-line, we call ourselves ‘QBK’ and we pride ourselves on getting after the quarterback, so that’s what we came in with a plan to do.”

And what is ‘QBK’?

“That stands for ‘Quarterback Killer.’”