ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions told T.J. Jones he needed to add some weight this offseason, so he did. His chances of sticking with a roster he couldn't stick with a year ago were growing even more thin.

The added bulk been written about, asked about, talked about and detailed throughout training camp so far, but it's always been a vague idea. All players add muscle in the offseason, with no games to take away from what they can exert in training. They love to show up and say they're in the best shape of their life, every single year.

Jones asserts this is the case for him, that he's added to his listed size of 6 feet tall and 190 pounds. But when it comes to what he's actually added, or how much, he's not sharing.

He compared it to the engagement ring he bought for his fiance, where the mystique of how many karats were in it was perhaps more powerful than an exact number could be.

"Some people have stated I look more than what I am, and some have said I look what I am," he said. "I'm just going to let them think I'm anywhere in between.

Whether he's keeping those details private to avoid crumpling the narrative or to steer clear of a label is unclear. It's foggy, like the answers as to whether the Lions will carry four or five wide receiver this year and who of Jones, Jace Billingsley and Jared Abbrederis will claim whatever final spots they offer.

Jones has been through this kind of camp battle before, and he knows for his outlook to change for the better, he has to be the one to change it. As a fourth-year player, he's no longer eligible to head to the practice squad if he doesn't make it. That's where he spent all but three games last year, after the Lions made it clear their 2014 sixth-round pick wasn't strong enough to be their fifth receiver.

And after the way Detroit wideouts were often pressed at the line and thrown off their routes down the stretch last season, that ultimatum was only necessary. Marvin Jones entered the offseason with the exact same goal.

Where Jones has come, both physically and as a polished receiver, won't be adequately defined until the lights come on for more games. That's always been his challenge, and it's one part that hasn't yet changed.