Pro Sports

Packers' jumbo-sized Dillon ready for more supersized leaps

Posted November 19, 2021 6:00 am

By ROB MAADDI

Green Bay Packers' AJ Dillon celebrates with fans after rushing for a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash) The Associated Press

A.J. Dillon jumped so high on his first successful Lambeau Leap his knees landed on top of the wall and he went helmet-first into the stands.

The Green Bay Packers' jumbo-sized running back is just getting started with his supersized leaps.

With Aaron Jones sidelined by a knee injury, Dillon will see more action for the NFC North-leading Packers (8-2), starting this Sunday against Minnesota (4-5). Dillon scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter of a 17-0 win over Seattle last Sunday and has 218 total yards in the last two games.

'œI'm obviously looking forward to any time I'm out there, wherever I'm needed,'ť Dillon said on the AP Pro Football Podcast. 'œThat's kind of the philosophy I've had so far being in the league, even last year when I wasn't playing much. So if I need to carry the ball 40 times or four times, whatever it takes for us to get a win, I'm definitely more than able.'ť

A second-round pick out of Boston College in 2020, the 247-pound Dillon carried the ball only 46 times for 242 yards and two scores as a rookie playing behind Jones and Jamaal Williams. Going from being the man in college to a backup in the NFL was an adjustment.

'œIt was definitely a big change, not going to lie,'ť Dillon said. 'œBut I always say everything happens for a reason, and the silver lining I will take away from it is I had two really good friends and leaders in front of me with Aaron Jones and Jamaal. They brought me in under their wing and really treated me like one of their own. I picked up a bunch of stuff from them to better my game. It also taught me how to make the most of each opportunity I do get.'ť

Dillon did that against the Seahawks, barreling in from the 3 for his first score and heading straight toward the stands to celebrate with the fans. He needed help from teammate Allen Lazard on his leap last year.

'œThat was awesome, my favorite Lambeau experience,'ť he said. 'œThat's the first time I did it successfully by myself without having to get pushed up. And I think, honestly, I really overshot it. If there weren't fans, I would've nose-dived straight in the stands, but it was awesome.'ť

Dillon scored again on a 2-yard run and did another leap. He finished with 66 yards rushing and also caught two passes from Aaron Rodgers for 62 yards, including a 50-yarder. Dillon has worked hard on route-running and catching passes after his receiving skills were questioned coming out of college.

'œI take a ton of pride in that,'ť he said. 'œStill continuously working on it. It wasn't lack of ability, it was just lack of opportunity just because we didn't do it (at Boston College). I'm really happy with my progress.'ť

Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Dillon is much more 'œdetailed'ť in his second season in the NFL.

'œBut I think that goes for many players that are young guys,'ť LaFleur added. 'œI'm just really happy to see his progression. I think he is so multi-dimensional as a halfback. I think he's done a much better job of learning how to run in his league, in terms of running behind his pads, lowering his pad level, really delivering the boom.'ť

Dillon has become a fan favorite in Green Bay and this week he received a key to Door County because he promotes the area heavily on social media. Dillon began visiting the county because his fiancee's family has a place there.

'œIt was really fun. We just kept going,'ť he said. 'œThen I found I was dragging her up. She's like, '~I always go there.' I'm like, '~We've got to go back up.''ť

Last week, Dillon partnered with the Outkast NFT Collection, which consists of 10,000 programmatically generated anime and Star Wars inspired NFT works of art. Dillon said he's been monitoring NFTs closely and selected Outkast after doing his research.

'œIt's a space that I'm really looking to obviously learn more about and really get into,'ť Dillon said. 'œI like what they've got going and I can really see it taking off.'ť

Just like his Lambeau Leaps.

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AP Sports Writer Steve Megargee contributed to this report.

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Follow Rob Maaddi on Twitter at https://twitter.com/robmaaddi and his work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/robmaaddi

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More AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Green Bay Packers' AJ Dillon celebrates his second touchdown run during the second half of an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash) The Associated Press

Green Bay Packers' AJ Dillon celebrates his touchdown run with teammate Elgton Jenkins and fans during the second half of an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) The Associated Press

Green Bay Packers' AJ Dillon gets into the end zone for a touchdown run during the second half of an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) The Associated Press

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Allen Lazard (13) directs running back AJ Dillon (28) for a Lambeau Leap after scoring a touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks during an NFL football game on Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021, in Green Bay, Wis. (Adam Niemi/The Daily Mining Gazette via AP) The Associated Press

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