Julius Jones begins replacing Shaun Alexander

KIRKLAND — There was nothing soft about Julius Jones on his first day as the Seahawks’ new leading runner.

Lightning-like bolts through the line. Muscles that bulged from his compact physique, from beneath his rolled up jersey sleeves and gym shorts.

No tiptoeing into the line. No baggy sweat pants that billowed to tops of his shoes. Nothing like the look of the allegedly soft Shaun Alexander, who for the first time since 2001 was not Seattle’s main man in the backfield.

“It feels good. Feels good. New team. Fresh start,” said the 26-year-old Jones, last seen fading far behind Pro Bowl back Marion Barber in the Dallas Cowboys’ postseason plans four months ago.

The Seahawks resurrected Jones’ career this offseason by signing him to a four-year contract worth almost $12 million to replace Alexander. The former league MVP, who turns 31 in August, is now unemployed and reportedly heading to Cincinnati for a tryout.

Jones, at 5-feet-11 and 211 pounds, is the centerpiece to Seattle’s remodel of its condemned running game. The Seahawks also signed bruising runner T.J. Duckett, hired former Kansas City offensive coordinator Mike Solari as offensive line coach and signed former Pro Bowl offensive guard Mike Wahle from Carolina.

The Seahawks’ idea is that where Alexander waited for running lanes that were slow to develop behind an iffy offensive line, Jones will simply burst through to seize his own.

“I like the uniforms. I like the jerseys. I like everything about it,” Jones said Friday after his first minicamp practice.

He even likes the potentially awkward transition with the injured, aging Alexander, whom Seattle waived two weeks ago. Jones said that was smooth and cordial. The fact the two knew each other through Jones’ older brother Thomas, a running back with the New York Jets, helped.

“I saw Shaun in here a couple times, just walking through the locker room. He was getting treatment,” Julius Jones said. “I went in and said hello to him. We exchanged numbers. He invited me to his church.