Jones darted toward the goal line, flashing the ball at offensive players as he ran past them. There is no contact in training camp, but even if they had been in pads, there is no way anyone could have cut down the 6-1, 215-pound strong safety from Georgia.

Plays such as the one Jones made on the first day of minicamp were expected last year when the Browns made him their second-round pick of the 2004 draft. But it never happened.

On the final day of passing camp last year, Jones jumped to intercept a pass. When he came down in a tangle of legs, the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee tore like a weak rubber band.

Jones was finished for the year. It was an omen of things to come in a season where 15 players ended up on injured reserve and the Browns won only four games. But now, Jones says, he is 100 percent and ready to go.

''Physically, I feel great,'' Jones said. ''There's nothing wrong with my knee. I've been feeling good since January, but this is the first time I've been running around with the team, so I feel good. I haven't run a 40 yet, but I haven't lost any speed.''

Of all the positions that have been restocked by new coach Romeo Crennel and general manager Phil Savage in the last six months, only quarterback has been changed more drastically than safety.

The starters from last year, Robert Griffith and Earl Little, are in Arizona and Green Bay, respectively. Brian Russell is in his first year with the Browns after four seasons with the Vikings.

Savage saw safety as such a dire need that in April he used the Browns' second-round draft choice, the 34th pick overall, on Brodney Pool from Oklahoma. Pool and Russell will compete for a starting job.

This rebuilding could work out well for the Browns. Scouting reports last season ranked Jones second among 2004 safeties, behind only Sean Taylor, the fifth pick in the first round. Pool was rated the top safety in the 2005 draft. If they pan out, they could be Pro Bowl players long after Griffith, 34, and Little, 32, are comfortably retired. But first there is a lot to learn.

''Sean's athletic ability shows up,'' Crennel said. ''You can see that very easily. Also what shows up is he really is a rookie, because he didn't play last year. He's made some of those rookie mistakes. He has to read the quarterback and read the receivers. All the reads haven't been what I want them to be. He's going to work on those and try to get them corrected.''

Jones earned a reputation as a hard hitter at Georgia. Griffith had that reputation with the Browns, but too often when he missed the hit, he also missed the tackle. Jones made 121 tackles in 2003, his final year with the Bulldogs.

Jones has not had the opportunity to take down an opponent since Georgia's final game of the 2003 season. No one will know for sure what kind of tackler he will be in the NFL until he plays in preseason games in August, because tackling in training camp is monitored -- coaches don't want teammates injuring each other.

''I want to make up for last year,'' Jones said. ''I have some catching up to do as far as tackles and picks are concerned with the guys that were drafted with me.''

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