This story appears in ESPN The Magazines September 19 NFL Preview II Issue. Subscribe today!INSIDE CINCINNATIS DARK dark and deserted players cafeteria, Adam Jones chuckles to himself as the rest of the Bengals joyously fly toward the stadium exits, free from another grueling session in the dog days of training camp. Jones, a first-round draft pick by Tennessee in 2005, insists hes finally content right here -- alone, out of the spotlight, talking football. At 32, he has matured from the player who was suspended for the entire 2007 season after repeated off-the-field issues, including involvement in a shooting outside of a Las Vegas strip club. Now Jones is a Pro Bowl cornerback and an enthusiastic student of the game -- a trait on full display in the cafeteria. Minutes after sitting down, he shed his backpack and collected two fistfuls of a visitors shirt to illustrate a point about press coverage. By the end of the afternoon, his hands-on lecture revealed exactly how NFL offenses, and Jones himself, have evolved.THE MAG: Take us back to your rookie year. What did offenses look like in 2005?JONES: It was power football -- fullbacks and running backs and tight ends who blocked. In 2005, corners had to tackle. If you wouldnt tackle, you wouldnt play. Now you see lots of quick stuff, spread, West Coast, lots of on-the-ball, no-huddle. When I started, Peyton Manning was about the only one doing what every QB is doing now: going to the line, reading the defense and checking out of plays. His approach was probably the biggest thing that changed for offenses. The smart QB. The studying QB. The QB who can read when the safety is creeping down or see that the linebacker is a little more outside and switch to a better play. Its all about getting that last chess move before the snap.So what would an old base offensive formation from 2005 look like?Its called Ace: two wide receivers, a fullback, a running back. [See below.] Youd have a tight end blocking. Tight splits on the line. QB under center. Thered be a big power back like Jerome Bettis behind an even bigger fullback.And now?The fullback -- poof -- gone. The whole league is moving away from power football. So no fullback, no big back, and the tight end wont be a big-ass slow guy close to the line; hell be running like a receiver. Add three-, four-wide to the picture, linemen spread out, more zone-blocking, pass-blocking, QB in shotgun, ball out quick.If I had to pick one thing to show the offensive evolution, Id go with tight ends.When I got drafted, Antonio Gates was the only tight end running like a wide receiver. Now every goddamn tight end is running like hell -- and fast as hell. [See below.] Thats a big, big difference. Thats the biggest mismatch going. If you got a good No. 1 receiver and a good tight end, it makes it really hard. You cant double both. So pick your poison.What else has changed?Just today we watched film off and on from 7 a.m. until 5:30. We practiced for maybe two hours. So that should tell you how much of a mental game this is now. Lots of kids are coming into the NFL dumb as hell and they cant pick up a defense. With what we face from offenses, you have to be able to check out of three calls in a few seconds before every play. If the receivers are lined up two-by-two, were playing this coverage -- wait, nope, now they shifted to three-by-one, now were playing another call. If I had a son and he was gifted like me at football, the main thing I would stress to him is the mental aspect of the game.Give me an example.OK, so when Im in press coverage in a cover 3 and I know the safety or the linebacker is down toward the line of scrimmage and I have help on the inside, I know if my guy releases outside, he can only run two routes. Whats he gonna run?Me? I like a fly route.Uh-huh, a go route, yep.Or a curl.A comeback, yep. See, before the ball is even snapped, Ive already eliminated the rest of the playbook. Now you can spread the field, play four wides, get the ball out fast, go no-huddle; doesnt matter, Ive taken the advantage back. Offenses move so fast -- if youre out there thinking in the middle of a play, its too late.Problem is, whenever defenses start to dominate offenses, they change the rules to protect the golden goose.So many rules now. You just have to hone your craft even more because the whole thing is set up for me not to be good. My mentality now is so different than it used to be. Im walking up in press coverage and Im thinking to myself, I gotta guard this guy within the rules. I know if I even touch him after ?6, 7 yards downfield theyre gonna flag me. It makes you focus on little stuff. Focus on your feet at the line -- thats how you have to win the route, by being in good position. I used to go up, quick-jam the guy, keep my hands on him and then wait and feel and turn when he turned. Cant do that now. Focusing on the little stuff is the biggest change in how I play.Seems like your approach with everything has changed.I look at when I first came out, dumb as bricks. Now every day Im calling out plays in practice to the point where linebacker Vincent Rey says, Man, you must have a cheat sheet in your pocket! When youre young, you take a lot of stuff for granted. There was a point in my life where I wasnt even thinking about a future even existing like this for me. When youre the laughingstock of the league and you just got kicked out of the league, those are some dark times. But I always told myself, Im gonna get the last laugh. Every day I still make a point to visit my past, all the dumb s--- I did. I have to. Its easy to slip up. If you dont remind yourself, youre gonna wind up right back in those situations.Custom Soccer Jerseys Outlet . Siddikur, whose previous win on the circuit came in Brunei three years ago, finished his bogey-free round with a birdie on the 18th for a total of 17-under 199. Indias Shiv Chowrasia, who has finished runner-up in this tournament twice, was in second place after a 66. Custom Soccer Jerseys China . The FA rejected Wilsheres appeal that the length of his punishment was "clearly excessive" and said Thursday his suspension begins with immediate effect. He will miss league matches against Chelsea on Monday and West Ham on Dec. http://www.customjerseyssoccer.com/ . -- Charlie Graham stopped 67 shots as the Belleville Bulls edged the visiting Guelph Storm 6-5 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Cheap Custom Soccer Jerseys .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. Clearance Custom Soccer Jerseys . -- Eastern Kentucky thrives off creating havoc for others.FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- Patrick Reeds place in the Ryder Cup is looking better with each round at The Barclays, and so are his prospects of winning.Even with a careless finish Friday at Bethpage Black, Reed rode a fast start to a 3-under 68 and a two-shot lead over Emiliano Grillo and Rickie Fowler going into the weekend of the opening FedEx Cup playoff event.The Barclays is the final tournament for Americans to earn one of the eight automatic spots on the Ryder Cup team. Reed, who has gone 55 tournaments worldwide since his last victory, came into the week at No. 8.At the moment, thats no longer a concern.Really, Im going into this week trying to win a golf tournament, Reed said. If I take care of me and do what I need to do this week, then Ryder Cup will take care of itself. So Im not going into this week looking at it as, `Oh, I need to do this for the Ryder Cup. Im going in this to think, `All right, I need to go win a golf tournament.Reed was at 8-under 134.Fowler mostly likely needs third place alone to have any chance of qualifying for the Ryder Cup, and he has done his part. He played bogey-free in the sweltering heat, though still missing plenty of birdie chances. Par is never bad on the Black Course, however, and Fowler shot a 69.He has dropped only one shot all week, missing a 4-foot par putt Thursday that spun out of the back of the cup.Any time you can go bogey-free out here at this place, its good golf, Fowler said. Feel very good about my ball-striking and tee-to-green right now. See if we can get some more putts to go in.Grillo also had a 69, opening with a double bogey and finishing with a bogey.Ryan Moore (68) was three shots behind, while defending champion Jason Day (70) and Jordan Spieth (67) were four back.Day tied for the lead early in the round when he ran off four straight birdies on the easier front nine. But his tee shots got wild, he finished some swings with only one hand on the club, and he dropped four shots around the turn.Im really looking forward to the weekend, Day said. I feel like Im really close.Spieth missed the cut at The Barclays a year ago, and he started off Friday in that direction when his approach to the tough 10th buried in the lip of a deep bunker.dddddddddddd Spieth had to play away from the green and made double bogey.And then he decided to start over. His caddie, Michael Greller, told him to forget the hole ever happened and try to get those two shots back before making the turn. He eventually did, and then a lot more.Spieth played shot 31 on the front nine, including a 6-iron that hopped out of the rough to 3 feet on the par-5 fourth hole for an eagle, and shot a 67 to get back into the mix. He still has a lot of ground to make up on Patrick Reed. Still, this round could have gotten away from him early.Resetting a goal there is really key for me to get my mind away from what happened and look forward, Spieth said. I know its such a tough golf course. Its rare when we play tournaments on courses this challenging. Normally theyre majors. But 4 under makes up a lot of ground.It moved Spieth up to a tie for fifth, which beats having the weekend off.Spieth is among the few who only have to think about the end of the FedEx Cup. He is No. 5 in the standings, and he already has clinched a spot on the Ryder Cup team.The top 100 in the FedEx Cup advance to the next playoff event outside Boston next week, and 13 players outside the top 100 were eliminated when they didnt advance to the weekend. As for the Ryder Cup, three players who missed the cut can no longer qualify -- Bill Haas, Kevin Na and Daniel Summerhays.Bethpage, host of the U.S. Open twice, showed how it can punish bad shots. Kevin Chappell one shot behind until he went bogey-double bogey-bogey to finish his round, posting a 72. Reed could have avoided his own sloppy finish. He three-putted from 30 feet on No. 16, bounced back with a 5-iron to 2 feet for birdie on the 17th, and then opted for driver on the closing hole.He was thinking 3-iron off the tee to play short of the bunkers. His caddie suggested driver for a shorter shot into the green, particularly because Reed had hit driver beautifully over the previous hour. This one went enough left to find a bunker, however, leading to another bogey. ' ' '