ST. LOUIS — Welcome back, Johnny Jolly.
The Green Bay Packers veteran defensive end, who missed the past three seasons — including the team's Super Bowl XLV title — while suspended by the NFL for violating the league's substance abuse policy, has been back with the team since the summer after being reinstated by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in March.
But it wasn't until Saturday night's 19-7 preseason victory over the St. Louis Rams at the Edward Jones Dome that he truly was able to show his old form, deflecting one pass at the line of scrimmage to cause Jarrett Bush's interception, then getting his mitts on a Loyce Means deflection for an interception of his own later in the third quarter.
"It's just a matter of continuing to work hard and get better in everything I do and try my best to stick with the plan the coaches give me," Jolly said afterward. "If I continue to do that, I'll be fine."
There's no question that Jolly has his team in his corner. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers spoke glowingly about how Jolly has reassimiliated himself into the locker-room atmosphere after a short prison stay and suspension, and the excitement on the sideline about Jolly's interception was obvious.
"If you could have a camera on the sideline, I know what I was doing: I was jumping up and down, running down the sideline and I know (wide receiver) James Jones was doing the same thing," Rodgers said. "There were probably 25 guys on the field congratulating him. That just says a lot about his presence, his personality, the way the guys feel about him, how happy we are to have him back and he played great tonight. He had a tip that went for the first interception and then he picked the second one off. So I'm happy he's back and I couldn't be happier for him."
Jolly's deflection on Bush's interception was like turning on a time machine. Jolly's specialty earlier in his career was deflecting passes; in 2009, his last season with the team, he had 11 pass deflections.
"It's pretty much hand-and-eye coordination, reading the quarterback stepping up into the pocket, watching and seeing when he's about to release the ball and the pressure the offensive line is under," Jolly said of backup quarterback Kellen Clemens' throw. "It's all reaction. When the ball comes your direction, get your hands up. And I was able to get it."
Jason Wilde wrote: