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This story appears in ESPN The Magazines September 19 NFL Preview II Issue. Subscribe today!INSIDE CINCINNATIS DARK dark and deserted players cafeteria, Adam Jones chuckles to himself as the rest of the Bengals joyously fly toward the stadium exits, free from another grueling session in the dog days of training camp. Jones, a first-round draft pick by Tennessee in 2005, insists hes finally content right here -- alone, out of the spotlight, talking football. At 32, he has matured from the player who was suspended for the entire 2007 season after repeated off-the-field issues, including involvement in a shooting outside of a Las Vegas strip club. Now Jones is a Pro Bowl cornerback and an enthusiastic student of the game -- a trait on full display in the cafeteria. Minutes after sitting down, he shed his backpack and collected two fistfuls of a visitors shirt to illustrate a point about press coverage. By the end of the afternoon, his hands-on lecture revealed exactly how NFL offenses, and Jones himself, have evolved.THE MAG: Take us back to your rookie year. What did offenses look like in 2005?JONES: It was power football -- fullbacks and running backs and tight ends who blocked. In 2005, corners had to tackle. If you wouldnt tackle, you wouldnt play. Now you see lots of quick stuff, spread, West Coast, lots of on-the-ball, no-huddle. When I started, Peyton Manning was about the only one doing what every QB is doing now: going to the line, reading the defense and checking out of plays. His approach was probably the biggest thing that changed for offenses. The smart QB. The studying QB. The QB who can read when the safety is creeping down or see that the linebacker is a little more outside and switch to a better play. Its all about getting that last chess move before the snap.So what would an old base offensive formation from 2005 look like?Its called Ace: two wide receivers, a fullback, a running back. [See below.] Youd have a tight end blocking. Tight splits on the line. QB under center. Thered be a big power back like Jerome Bettis behind an even bigger fullback.And now?The fullback -- poof -- gone. The whole league is moving away from power football. So no fullback, no big back, and the tight end wont be a big-ass slow guy close to the line; hell be running like a receiver. Add three-, four-wide to the picture, linemen spread out, more zone-blocking, pass-blocking, QB in shotgun, ball out quick.If I had to pick one thing to show the offensive evolution, Id go with tight ends.When I got drafted, Antonio Gates was the only tight end running like a wide receiver. Now every goddamn tight end is running like hell -- and fast as hell. [See below.] Thats a big, big difference. Thats the biggest mismatch going. If you got a good No. 1 receiver and a good tight end, it makes it really hard. You cant double both. So pick your poison.What else has changed?Just today we watched film off and on from 7 a.m. until 5:30. We practiced for maybe two hours. So that should tell you how much of a mental game this is now. Lots of kids are coming into the NFL dumb as hell and they cant pick up a defense. With what we face from offenses, you have to be able to check out of three calls in a few seconds before every play. If the receivers are lined up two-by-two, were playing this coverage -- wait, nope, now they shifted to three-by-one, now were playing another call. If I had a son and he was gifted like me at football, the main thing I would stress to him is the mental aspect of the game.Give me an example.OK, so when Im in press coverage in a cover 3 and I know the safety or the linebacker is down toward the line of scrimmage and I have help on the inside, I know if my guy releases outside, he can only run two routes. Whats he gonna run?Me? I like a fly route.Uh-huh, a go route, yep.Or a curl.A comeback, yep. See, before the ball is even snapped, Ive already eliminated the rest of the playbook. Now you can spread the field, play four wides, get the ball out fast, go no-huddle; doesnt matter, Ive taken the advantage back. Offenses move so fast -- if youre out there thinking in the middle of a play, its too late.Problem is, whenever defenses start to dominate offenses, they change the rules to protect the golden goose.So many rules now. You just have to hone your craft even more because the whole thing is set up for me not to be good. My mentality now is so different than it used to be. Im walking up in press coverage and Im thinking to myself, I gotta guard this guy within the rules. I know if I even touch him after ?6, 7 yards downfield theyre gonna flag me. It makes you focus on little stuff. Focus on your feet at the line -- thats how you have to win the route, by being in good position. I used to go up, quick-jam the guy, keep my hands on him and then wait and feel and turn when he turned. Cant do that now. Focusing on the little stuff is the biggest change in how I play.Seems like your approach with everything has changed.I look at when I first came out, dumb as bricks. Now every day Im calling out plays in practice to the point where linebacker Vincent Rey says, Man, you must have a cheat sheet in your pocket! When youre young, you take a lot of stuff for granted. There was a point in my life where I wasnt even thinking about a future even existing like this for me. When youre the laughingstock of the league and you just got kicked out of the league, those are some dark times. But I always told myself, Im gonna get the last laugh. Every day I still make a point to visit my past, all the dumb s--- I did. I have to. Its easy to slip up. If you dont remind yourself, youre gonna wind up right back in those situations. Chicago Cubs Jerseys . Ivanovic was leading 7-5, 1-0 when Hantuchova withdrew after falling 0-40 behind in the second game. The match started slowly for Ivanovic, who surrendered her first two serves as Hantuchova took a 5-3 lead. Ernie Banks Jersey . Rinne played two periods in his first game since left hip surgery in early May. Gabriel Bourque scored 3:07 into the second period and Austin Watson tallied 5:15 later for Nashville. http://www.thecubsteamshop.com/Cubs-Ryne-Sandberg-Kids-Jersey/ . -- Ryan Blaney provided more evidence that Penske Racings No. Mark Grace Jersey . It was the kind of score that might make everyone else wonder which course he was playing. Except that Graeme McDowell saw the whole thing. Crouched behind the 10th green at Sheshan International, McDowell looked over at the powerful American and said, "Ive probably seen 18 of the best drives Ive seen all year in the last two days. David Ross Jersey . You can watch the game live on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The Flyers had won seven of eight before dropping their last two outings on consecutive days over the weekend. Philadelphia was handed a 6-3 loss by the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Rangers the following night in New York City. The BCCI has convened an emergent working committee meeting on August 2 in Mumbai, ahead of its special AGM on August 5 in New Delhi. The meeting will focus on the Supreme Courts order to implement the Lodha Committee recommendations and the proposed T20I series between West Indies and India in the USA next month. The notice for the working committee meeting was reportedly sent on Saturday.A working committee meeting has been convened in Mumbai on August 2 to discuss the Supreme Court verdict on Justice Lodha Committees reforms in the board, BCCI sources told PTI. It will also discuss the two-match T20 series between India and West Indies proposed to be held in Florida, USA after the conclusion of the current tour of West Indies by the Indian team.Asked whether everything had been finalised about the short T20 series, the sources told PTI, more or less.The BCCI had earlier announced a special general meeting in August 5 in New Delhi to discuss the recommendations, which were approved by the Supreme Court on July 18. BCCI president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke are also scheduled to meet with the Lodha Commmittee in Delhi on August 9, although a board official had told ESPNcricinfo that a date had not yet been fixed.ddddddddddddThe meetings come after the BCCI was given between four and six months by the Supreme Court to implement the Lodha panels recommendations, which cover wide-ranging aspects of Indian cricket at the central and state level. RM Lodha, the former chief justice of India who was the architect of the report, has been directed to oversee the transition.The other agenda before the working committee is the proposed series in Florida, and a source with knowledge of negotiations between the BCCI and the WICB told ESPNcricinfo that the series was 98% on. The 2% hold-up on finalising the August series is based on multiple factors, including the visa status of the players. 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