Aaron Jones was given multiple chances to throw shade during his introductory press conference with the Vikings.

Nobody would’ve blamed him for taking the bait. Not with how easily the Green Bay Packers moved on from him last week in favor of the younger Josh Jacobs.

Whenever his former team got brought up, however, Jones decided to take the high road. He emphasized that Chapter 1 of his career was over. He promised that Chapter 2 was going to be beautiful.

“This is my focus,” Jones said. “I’m not worried about the Packers. I’m with the Vikings, and I feel like we have a really good roster. We have the pieces that we need here.”

He’s a big part of that. It’s no secret that the Vikings wanted to add more talent to the backfield this offseason, and they did so by signing Jones to one-year, $7 million contract. He became a top priority for the Vikings as soon as the Packers released him.

“This is a guy that’s had the type of impact we were looking for to add to our room,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “I’m really, really excited to start getting to work with him.”

The stats have spoken for themselves ever since Jones got selected in the fifth round of the 2017 draft. He has established himself as a playmaker, recording 1,177 carries for 5,940 yards and 45 touchdowns. He has also proved himself as a versatile option out of the backfield, hauling in 272 receptions for 2,076 yards and 18 touchdowns.

That explains why the Vikings immediately targeted Jones regardless of the fact that he turns 30 this season.

“We get the conversation about running backs and age and different things like that,” general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said. “Maybe that dynamic has gone a little too far to the other side, and teams are realizing that there are still really good players at their value. It’s a position where we can really upgrade performance pretty efficiently. We’re excited to have him.”

The skill set that Jones brings with him should pair nicely with young running back Ty Chandler. He’s also bringing a passion that has always made everybody around him better. He expects that to continue to burn inside of him regardless of circumstance.

“Just because they didn’t re-sign me doesn’t add fuel to the fire,” Jones said. “My fire has already been lit, and it’s going to stay lit. I’m on a mission to be the best running back in the NFL. I’m glad I get to prove that here in Minnesota with a great organization.

What does he think it will be like going back to Lambeau Field for the first time? That was the only time Jones dropped a hint that he might be out for some revenge.

“It’s going to be fun,” Jones said with a smile. “It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – DECEMBER 31: Aaron Jones #33 of the Green Bay Packers rushes during the first quarter against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on December 31, 2023 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

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FORT MYERS, Fla. — Josh Staumont wasn’t feeling well when he took the mound on March 8 against the Pittsburgh Pirates — and that was reflected in the 92-mile-per-hour fastballs the veteran reliever was throwing. But it wasn’t anything related to the thoracic outlet syndrome he underwent last summer that contributed to the decrease in velocity. Rather, it was a bout of food poisoning that both Staumont and his wife had to deal with.

After more than a week break from Grapefruit League action, Staumont, who is in the mix for a spot in the Twins’ bullpen, returned to the mound on Saturday, his velocity topping out at 98.4 mph, which is the highest it has been post-surgery.

“It’s just like realizing that that’s something that’s attainable,” Staumont said. “A lot of people said it would never happen again type of thing (so it) is kind of cool.”

Staumont’s four-seam fastball averaged 97.4 mph on Sunday, a big jump from where he has been this spring — though it was a small sample size. Regaining his velocity post-surgery has been a process, and working through it has been “kind of patience and positivity-based,” he said.

“We came in with pretty good feel as to where we were and just as games get going, especially just post-surgery, you kind of always see these other things that may not have sped up as quickly. And so a lot of that’s just solving it and kind of body awareness,” Staumont said. “A lot of times when it’s a neurological thing, especially with a thoracic outlet thing, just some stuff just doesn’t want to move as quickly as others and so kind of ironing that out, working with these guys (and) putting ourselves in a better position.”

The Twins signed Staumont to a one-year deal this offseason in hopes that he could once again be the dominant reliever he was a few years ago before he started dealing with the symptoms that caused him to have thoracic outlet surgery. They were plenty familiar with him, as he spent the first five seasons of his major league career with the division-rival Kansas City Royals.

Upon his arrival in camp, Staumont has been working on his slider and plans to incorporate it more often.

“Each team has a different way they like to pitch guys, each team has a different way to use their players,” he said. “I’m open to any changes and stuff like that. I think our lsider is going to become a good weapon. Whether it’s even or above the curveball percentage, it’s going to be more than it was last year, which was very minimal.”

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli called Saturday’s outing, though he walked a pair of batters and retired just two, a “pretty productive,” outing for the reliever as he works his way back.

“That was probably his best outing that he’s had where his stuff was actually back up. He threw his fastball and slider in the zone, where before he hadn’t,” Baldelli said. “I would call that a definite step forward for him.”

Briefly

The Twins fell 9-4 to the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin on Sunday. Brooks Lee, the Twins’ No. 2 prospect, had a triple and a home run and is now hitting .343 this spring. … Joe Ryan will take the mound on Monday when the Twins take on the Boston Red Sox. The game will be televised locally on Bally Sports North.

The Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra aimed for groove with its concert at The O’Shaughnessy on Saturday, with a program of music that danced. From Latin Danzón rhythms to lighthearted ballet music, it was a concert that leaned into movement. The dance theme even extended into Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A Major, whose rhythms give it a dance quality. In fact, the 7th Symphony was called “the apotheosis of dance” by composer Richard Wagner.

Founded by Kevin Ford, a gay man, MPO has centered the gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans community and its allies in its 30-year history. More recently, the organization has expanded its mission to incorporate other identities and differences.

With its firm rooting in LGBTQ advocacy and history, the title of the concert, “Pulse,” called to mind the Pulse mass shooting, when 49 people were fatally shot and 53 more were injured at a queer dance club in Orlando, Florida, in 2016. But if that tragedy was being referenced, there was no note of it in the program, and it wasn’t mentioned in remarks by conductor Brian Dowdy or board president Daniel Meyers. Instead, the overall mood emanating on Saturday was one of joy, camaraderie and the pleasure of music that moves. “Pulse,” it turns out, is a dancing vibe that lives on beyond that horrible incident.

MPO holds its own as a member-based, volunteer orchestra, in part because of the material the group selects, often incorporating underrepresented composers in its lineup. For instance, the orchestra has commissioned a new work by Black nonbinary composer Yaz Lancaster, which they’ll play in May for its “Throughlines” concert.

Saturday’s concert started out with Mexican composer Arturo Márquez. Danzón No. 2 is one of nine Danzón works the composer has written. The formal dance bears its roots from both African and European influences and was popularized in Cuba and is also practiced in Mexico.

Clarinet player Lydia Sadoff started the piece off with an elegant, seductive solo, accompanied by percussion. Soon, she was joined by the oboe and the other instruments in a piece with complex syncopation and sizzling energy.

After that, the group performed Samuel Barber’s “Souvenirs” Ballet Suite, Op. 28.  Perhaps best known for his Adagio for Strings, Barber also notably composed “Medea,” a ballet written for Martha Graham, and the choral work “Agnus Dei.” He was also openly gay in a time when homosexuality wasn’t socially accepted.

Written in 1952, “Souvenirs” is structured as a series of dances, with each movement title referring to a different part of the Hotel Plaza, where Barber visited with his mother as a young person. The first movement, for instance, is called Waltz “(The Lobby)”. The second movement is called Schottische “(Third Floor Hallway.)” Later on, he calls the fourth movement Two Step “(Tea in the Palm Court.)”

There were moments of dissonance in the work, but overall, Barber goes for ease and pleasantness with this music, layered with skipping melodies, a dash of nostalgia, and intriguing touches like a harp solo here, a sustained harmonic there.

After intermission, the orchestra performed Beethoven. When Symphony No. 7 premiered in 1813, the audience demanded an immediate encore of the second movement, and it’s not hard to understand why. Used in countless movies and TV shows for dramatic effect, the second movement is suspenseful and stirring. Dowdy took a significant pause before the musicians started the movement, giving it gravity. The orchestra performed the whole symphony with admirable gusto.

Up next

Who: Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra

What:  Next up: “Throughlines”

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 11

Where: O’Shaughnessy Auditorium, 2004 Randolph Ave.

Tickets: $0-$30 at oshag.stkate.edu

Capsule: MPO next performs in May, featuring a world premiere by Yaz Lancaster plus works by Franz Liszt and Emilie Mayer.

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