Brad Jones, shown above tackling Kansas City receiver Jon Baldwin along with teammate Casey Hayward (No. 29), had made a smooth transition from backup outside linebacker to starting inside linebacker for the Packers. (US Presswire)

Brad Jones was answering questions about making the move from backup outside linebacker to starting inside linebacker when, mid-sentence, he glanced across the Packers locker room at the television screen displaying meeting times for various position groups and panicked.

“I have to run. In a minute I’m going to be late,” he said, hurriedly gathering his notebook from his locker. Then he paused.

“Oh, wait. No, sorry, never mind, we’ve got time,” he said, reassessing the screen and remembering his new position. “I apologize. I freaked out for a second.”

No matter which meeting he attends, classroom time has added significance for Jones this week.

The fourth-year linebacker from Colorado is preparing to make his first career start at inside linebacker in the Packers’ 3-4 defense. The team shifted Jones to the interior during the offseason and he spent training camp and the first five weeks of the regular season adjusting to the spot and learning new responsibilities.

Then in the second quarter of Green Bay’s 42-24 win at Houston last week, starting ILB D.J. Smith’s knee twisted and buckled. He was helped off the field, and the Packers turned to Jones. He fared just fine, avoiding mistakes and making two tackles, including one for loss on Texans’ Pro Bowl RB Arian Foster.

“I thought (Jones) played well,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “There are a couple things he'll learn from."

On Wednesday, Jones was nonchalant and confident about his increased role. He said he’ll hit the books this week and be prepared for whatever he’s asked to do in Sunday’s game at St. Louis.

“I think my one really good attribute is that I’ll study more than anybody,” Jones said. “The big leap is just learning new responsibilities, but I’ll go home and study more than everybody else.”

Jones, who arrived in Green Bay as a seventh round pick in 2009, made seven starts and recorded four sacks his rookie year. The next two seasons, he battled injuries and struggled to get on the field at outside linebacker. He made just five starts in 2010 and only two last year, in the Packers’ final two games. In those starts, Week 17 against Detroit and the divisional playoff loss to the Giants, Jones registered two sacks.

Still, despite the late production in limited action, the Packers changed his position. Because he's a rangy, athletic player, the team thought Jones (6-foot-3, 242 pounds) could handle the coverage duties at inside linebacker.

On Wednesday, Jones said there wasn’t a huge difference between the two spots.

“It’s the same drops, it’s just you’re doing it in a different spot,” he said. “Being able to go through it in the spring and learn it all, it was easy when the season started to change. It comes back quick. Once you learn it all, it's kind of like riding a bike."

Jones said he sees himself as both an outside and inside linebacker. When he was asked about his versatility and ability to wear different hats on the defense, he sounded self-assured.

“I don’t think I ever really feel like a fish out of water,” he said. “It’s kind of my modus operandi to shift around. I think over four years I’ve been pretty accountable and available and I look at this as another opportunity.”

The Packers are hoping Jones can be a dependable solution at a position that has gone from a place of talented depth to a spot manned by young and unproven commodities. In training camp, Green Bay lost one of its best defensive players, Desmond Bishop, who led the team in tackles last year with 115, to a severe hamstring injury. He was placed on injured reserve.

This week, Bishop’s replacement, second-year tackling machine D.J. Smith, joined him on IR with a knee injury. Now, Jones gets his chance as the “next man up,” the Packers’ oft-mentioned mantra for replacing injured players.

“It’s a pressure cooker, it’s the NFL,” Jones said. “Every day, honestly, every week something like that happens. You get used to being in the fire.”

Until now, he’d been contributing predominantly on special teams. He said Wednesday he didn’t know if those responsibilities would change, but stressed that he wanted to be on the field as much as possible.

“You’d have to ask the coaches about that, I don’t know what that thorough process is like,” Jones said. “I just work here.”

On Sunday, the Packers will see if that work, from the offseason through this week, pays off.

Follow Packers reporter James Carlton on Twitter: @CBSPackers and @jimmycarlton88.