September 15, 2012 at 9:24 PM

Not only did Paul Jones catch the first ball of his collegiate career on Saturday. He said he caught the first ball of his football career.

Jones, who played tight end on Saturday, caught one pass for seven yards and played several snaps both in blocking and receiving formations.

The redshirt sophomore said receiving a pass from Matt McGloin, who he was in a quarterback battle with in the spring, was everything he could have hoped for.

“The catch felt great,” Jones said. “Of course, coming here out of high school, I never thought I’d get that chance. I guess it was everything that I thought it would be. Like I said, I’m just happy that I’m playing.”

Coach Bill O’Brien said he liked what he saw out of his newest tight end, and he’d like to continue building on the package that involves Jones.

“We’ll get him more involved,” O’Brien said. “You know, he’s a great kid and I was glad to see him catch that ball. That was good, a good start for him. He also had a couple blocks in there too, which was good to see.”

Of course, Jones didn’t have a break out game. But, as Jones joked, the transition isn’t going to happen overnight.

“Me and McGloin were joking around,” Jones said. “He said, ‘You only had one catch.’ And I told him, ‘You have to start somewhere.’ It was way more than I expected to get when I first came on campus. But it felt good to be out there and playing with my brothers.”