Jones was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and raised by his mother, Deborah Jones, and his grandmother, Christine Jones. His father was killed in a robbery in 1991 at the age of 26. As a child growing up in the Sandtown neighborhood of Atlanta, he was coached by longtime Sandtown coach Gary Jones. When Jones was a freshman at West Virginia University, his grandmother died of cancer. Jones only missed one game of his three-year college career, which was to attend her funeral. On the day of the NFL Draft, Jones wore a T-shirt that featured his grandmother's picture.