Detroit Lions' Marvin Jones: I learned a lot from Randy Moss workouts

Carlos Monarrez | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Day 2 of Lions minicamp, plus Stafford contract Free Press writers Shawn Windsor, Dave Birkett and Carlos Monarrez recap Day 2 of Detroit Lions minicamp, with a lot of contract talk revolving around quarterback Matthew Stafford, on June 14, 2017.

There haven’t been many receivers better than Randy Moss in the history of football, so it was wise of Marvin Jones to pick Moss’ brain during off-season workouts in North Carolina.

The Detroit Lions receiver wanted to improve his lower-body strength and learn from Moss, who is eligible for the Pro Football of Fame this year.

“This off-season before I came up here, I was training with Randy Moss and we were just going at it, me and him and competing,” Jones said Wednesday. “I was getting a lot of insight in terms of what I wanted to focus on and that includes this, the lower-body strength, and the yards after the catch and stuff like that and (running better routes). So there’s a lot of things I got from him, us being on the field for two hours (at a time) that’s been good.”

Jones said one of the keys to his workouts with Moss was the repetition.

“So we were talking about a lot of stuff like that,” he said, “to where we kept repping it for hours and it kind of sunk it and it’s been great.”

One benefit Moss also might have provided Jones was the secret to reaching the end zone. Moss led the NFL in receiving touchdowns five times and set the single-season record with 23 TD catches in 2007. Jones caught four TD passes last season and didn’t reach the end zone in his final 10 games, including the playoff loss at Seattle.

Jones said it starts with a new approach to improving, literally from the bottom up by strengthening his legs.

“I’ve always worked on it but this is an extreme focus,” he said. “Instead of cranking out damn near 400 (pounds) on the bench, why not add some on your legs? So that’s been a priority for me and it’s working out good.”

Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez. Download our free Lions Xtra app on your Apple and Android devices.