" THOMAS JONES is an iron tank with an iron will, 220 pounds of pride and passion and swagger who stands up unflinchingly to the violent mayhem of sadistic behemoths, who keeps coming as if he were the Smokin' Joe Frazier of the NFL, so strong of body, mind and spirit that when fatigue makes cowards of them all, Jones is no longer the hunted, but the hunter.

"I'm kinda like an animal or something who senses a prey's getting tired of chasing," the Jets running back told The Post, "and you know you're like going for the kill. That's how I feel if I'm in a zone in the third or fourth quarter . . . I know it's only a matter of time before something's gonna happen -- long run, touchdown. . . . I've had that feeling ever since I've been playing football. That's one of those things where you get in a zone sometimes, there might not be great blocking, but if you're in that zone, you feel like as long as you don't get hit in the backfield you're gonna make something happen. It's great to be in that place, because you're just playing, you're not even thinking about what you're doing, you're just reacting."

The signs of surrender are unmistakable to Jones: "Just guys missing tackles, or taking the wrong angles. Guys getting up slow after the play. Guys aren't [trash] talking as much. . . . Third and fourth quarter, guys aren't saying as much."

As the Jets prepare to face the Jaguars on Sunday at Giants Stadium, Jones is the AFC's No. 4 rusher, with 704 yards on 149 carries. He also has seven rushing touchdowns. Practice makes perfect.

"I'm acting like it's a game, I'm finishing my runs 20, 30 yards down the field, so in the third and fourth quarter, my confidence goes up, where a lot of people's confidence can go down," Jones said. "Mine spikes."

He is the intense, driven, emotional son of coal miner parents, maniacal in the weight room, insatiable in the film room, blue-collar all the way. "I think once you lose the love for the game, it's time to hang it up," Jones said.

He demands calm just before the storm. "I'm cool during the week until I get to Saturday," Jones said. "Saturday after we have our walkthrough here in the morning, when I go home, I usually take a nap, watch a little college football. By the time I get to the hotel for the night meetings, I'm pretty much in game mode. So my family, they pretty much stay away from me.""