GREEN BAY, Wis. -- James Jones had the same feeling most Green Bay Packers fans did when the NFC Championship Game ended.

"I was sick to my stomach," Jones said.

Jones was still on the Oakland Raiders' roster at the time -- he would be cut four months later -- but his heart remained in Green Bay. Or on that day, it was in Seattle, where his former (and now current again) team blew a Super Bowl berth in spectacular fashion.

He wanted to be there with them, yet in some ways, he was glad he wasn't.

"That was a tough one to watch," Jones said. "I couldn't imagine being a part of that one."

James Jones (89) is glad to be back catching passes from Aaron Rodgers. AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

Part of him felt like he was because so many of his close friends -- from his longtime quarterback Aaron Rodgers to fellow receivers Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb -- were forced to live it.

"I was here with these guys -- with Jordy for seven years, Randall for [three] years, Aaron seven years -- and we became family beyond just on the field, but off the field," Jones said. "Whenever you see somebody that you call your family or your brother, knowing that they had an opportunity to go win that thing, to get a Super Bowl, and to lose like that, I was sick for them."

Little did Jones know at the time that he would return to Green Bay and find himself in the middle of one of the most intriguing games early this season, when the Seahawks come to Lambeau Field for Sunday night’s showdown.

Less than four months after that championship game, the Raiders cut Jones, who then signed with the New York Giants, only to be released again at the end of training camp. It set up his return to the Packers, who desperately needed a veteran receiver after Nelson's season-ending knee injury.

After catching two touchdown passes in Sunday's season-opening win over the Bears, Jones is in position to help the Packers make amends with Seattle.

"I'm not saying just because I'm here, we're going to win," Jones said. "I'm going to do my job, make the most of my opportunity when I can. I'm just here to play my role. I'm not saying if you would've had me last year, we'd have won. No, it's not like that. I'm just here to do my job and go out there and help them get a win."

As Jones conducted this interview, Cobb sat in the locker next to him, and it was almost as if Jones was talking to his teammate rather than his inquisitor.

"Those guys are my dogs," Jones said, looking at Cobb. "I didn't want to see them lose like that. I'd rather them lose 50-0 than to see them lose like that. It hurt. I don't want to say anything bad in the media right now, but Seattle, man, I ain't going to say nothing. My mama said if you ain't got nothing good to say, then don't say nothing at all. But we need to get this one. I wasn't here last year, and I know they don't want to talk about that, but we've got to get this one done."