Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew ended his 38-day holdout-without a new contract.
Jones-Drew arrived at the facility Sunday morning and chatted with teammates before meeting with coaches.
Jones-Drew wanted to renegotiate the final two years of a five-year, $31 million deal that paid him nearly $22 million the last three seasons. Owner Shad Khan and general manager Gene Smith refused, not wanting to set a precedent of paying players in the middle of lucrative deals.
Things got somewhat tense after Khan said publicly that Jones-Drew's absence "doesn't even move the needle." Khan also said his message to Jones-Drew is that the "train's leaving the station. Run, get on it."
Coming off a career year, Jones-Drew wants to be one of the NFL's highest-paid backs. His average salary per year ranks behind Minnesota's Adrian Peterson, Tennessee's Chris Johnson, Philadelphia's LeSean McCoy, Houston's Arian Foster, St. Louis' Steven Jackson, Carolina's DeAngelo Williams and Seattle's Marshawn Lynch.
The 27-year-old Jones-Drew signed his deal in 2009, before rushing for at least 1,300 yards in three consecutive seasons. He had a league-best 1,606 yards on the ground in 2011. Not only has he seemingly outperformed his contract, Jones-Drew is the face of the franchise and probably the only player on the roster known outside small-market Jacksonville.
Jones-Drew is entering his seventh season. He has 6,854 yards rushing, 2,473 yards receiving and 74 total touchdowns. He carried a career-high 343 times last season, averaging 4.7 yards even though defenses knew he was the focal point of Jacksonville's offense.
