Bob McManaman

azcentral sports

Chandler Jones refuses to put a number on the amount of quarterback sacks he might be able to register for the Cardinals in 2016. Anything is possible, the outside linebacker said, but he doesn’t want to place any limitations on himself or sound like a conceited jerk, either.

“Honestly, I never try to think about that,” Jones said. “Maybe at midseason I’ll look at the stats, but I never go out to get a certain number. Hopefully, I do better than last year but I never go out each game and say, ‘Hey, I want this many sacks in this game’ or ‘I’m trying to get this many sacks.’

“Honestly, I wish I could sack the quarterback every time they drop back. But it’s not that easy.”

It’s easy for some of his teammates to speculate, however.

And two of them – cornerback Patrick Peterson and safety Tyrann Mathieu – have already set the over/under on Jones’ sack total at 20. It’s a number that has been achieved only 11 times (by 10 different players) since sacks became an official statistic in 1982.

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“There’s no doubt about it,” Peterson said. “He has that potential to be a 20-plus sack guy. … He’s in a contract year, too, so I know he’s going to be even that much hungrier.”

Mathieu, meanwhile, thinks Jones will benefit by playing in the NFC West against some makeshift and rebuilding offensive lines.

“In this division, yeah, he can get 20 sacks,” Mathieu said. “In this division, they rely on their quarterbacks to make plays – i.e. San Francisco and Seattle. I just figure it like this: If (Dwight) Freeney had eight sacks in a backup role, Chandler should probably get 20 in a starting role.”

Through nine games last season with the New England Patriots, Jones was on pace to finish with 19 sacks. But after accumulating 10½ by mid-November, he tallied only two more the rest of the way and also missed a game due to injury.

Unsure they could re-sign him once his contract expires in 2017, the Patriots traded Jones to the Cardinals in March for guard Jonathan Cooper and a second-round pick.

“He’s everything you thought he was,” Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said. “I’m glad he’s on our team right now, man. I think he’s going to have a great year.”

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If he registers 20 sacks, it would be a phenomenal year. The franchise record for most sacks in a season is 16½, set in 1999 by Simeon Rice. No Cardinals player has finished with more than 12 since Bertrand Berry had 14½ in 2004.

But if Jones could average 1½ sacks per game, he’d finish with 24 and set the NFL single-season record. That would make him legendary. Michael Strahan is credited with the most sacks in a single year – 22½ in 2001 – but many feel his record is tainted because Packers quarterback Brett Favre basically laid down and giftwrapped the record-breaking sack to Strahan, his good friend.

That’s always irritated Mark Gastineau, who held the single-season record (22) for 17 seasons. In a recent interview with azcentral sports, the former Jets defensive end, who grew up in Springerville, said he would welcome a new sack king with open arms.

“I’ve said this before, if somebody does get the record I would acknowledge him in a respectful way,” Gastineau said. “That would be almost something I would really enjoy – to see somebody get a record that they deserve and there’s no detriment, no negativity tied to it. (Strahan) really tarnished that record. I think the one that suffers the most is Strahan because of the fact so many Jet fans when they see him give him such a hard time.”

Jones, who was named to his first Pro Bowl a year ago, isn’t worried about breaking any records.

“That would be cool if I get there,” he said. “But my biggest thing is winning, honestly. Like I said, I just want to do better than I did last year. I want to be an elite defensive end, not just a pass rusher. I want to be able to stop the run and have a durable season and have consistency.”

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But sacks are cool and sacks bring boatloads of cash in the form of massive contract extensions. Jones knows this, even though he also knows that getting sacks are a byproduct of multiple situations going right for you and wrong for the guys on the other side of the football.

“As a pass rusher, you can’t try to win every time,” he says. “It sounds ideal, but you have to set guys up. You can’t just speed rush every time. You can’t bull rush every time. You can’t make an inside move every time. You have to do a series of moves. It’s almost like a chess game in its own way.”

Think of a pitcher facing a batter and throwing a certain sequence of pitches until he goes for the strikeout. The strategy is similar for a pass rusher.

“It’s all based on how they react once you do certain steps, certain movements,” Jones said. “That’s when you know which move to do. Every once in a while you might guess and get a guy, but most of the time you have to set guys up, especially at this level.”

Cardinals guard Evan Mathis faced Jones twice last season during the Broncos’ run to the Super Bowl. The veteran lineman knows Arizona picked up a special player when it traded for Jones.

“He’s got very long arms and it’s very hard for an offensive lineman to get their hands on him when he’s extending,” Mathis said. “He’s able to shed blocks really well and he’s very, very strong. He brings a lot to this defense.”

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“He’s going to bring a ton of pressure,” Peterson predicts.

“He’s got everything that we were missing,” Mathieu adds.

If Jones has the kind of year Mathieu and Peterson expect, he will be compensated accordingly by the Cardinals or someone else. Jones won’t say much about his impending free agency, however, noting there have been no discussions as of yet with the Cardinals.

“I feel like all of that is going to take care of itself,” he said. “I approach every season the exact same way. I’m going to go out there and try to be the best Chandler Jones I can be and as far as contract situations or contract talks, at the end of the season that will take care of itself.”

Asked if he’s interested in negotiations to commence, Jones said, “It will come. I’m not going to go looking for it. It’ll come to me, for sure.”

Does he have a deadline in mind for something to get done?

“I don’t care, honestly,” he said. “When my time comes, it will come.”

(Reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @azbobbymac and listen to him live every Monday at 5:30 p.m. on NBC Sports Radio 1060-AM with Roc and Manuch and every Wednesday night between 7-9 on Fox Sports 910-AM on The Freaks with Kenny and Crash.)