SYRACUSE (AP) -- Chandler Jones won't play for Syracuse on Saturday night when the Orange visit Tulane, but the star defensive end will be smiling, cheering and coaching on the sidelines.

Almost fully recovered from a lower body injury, Jones, a redshirt senior, is back practicing and his return to full contact is imminent.

"It's a long process. Coaches are being very cautious with it," Jones said Wednesday night in his first interview with reporters since the injury. "I've been out four weeks so far. It just feels good to be back at practice and being out there with those guys, being fully suited up, and being vocal on the field. It was a big setback, but they say the biggest setbacks have the best results."

Expected to be one of the top defensive linemen in the Big East this season - he had three forced three fumbles and also registered 9.5 tackles for a loss to boost his two-year total to 19.5 - Jones has not played since the season-opener against Wake Forest. He made a key play in the overtime win over the Demon Deacons, knocking quarterback Tanner Price out of the game in the fourth quarter on a play a Wake Forest offensive lineman was penalized for holding Jones, who broke free and collided with Price.

The 6-foot-5, 265-pound Jones has since missed four games, two of them losses, and finally was cleared to return to practice this week.

"It was hard," Jones said of the worst injury of his football career. "I was just very positive about it when I found out the news."

Jones grew up in a religious family - his dad is a pastor in nearby Binghamton - and he said he's kept in touch with his two brothers almost every day. Art Jones also starred at Syracuse and now is a defensive tackle with the NFL's Baltimore Ravens, while Jon Jones is a mixed martial arts light heavyweight champ.

"My family was a big key in my recovery," said Jones, a second-team, All-Big East player in 2010. "They just told me to keep my head up. I just kept rehabbing and it started healing faster than it should have."

Jones will return to the lineup after next week's bye to face West Virginia in the Carrier Dome on a Friday night.

"Coming out and running out of that tunnel and actually knowing that I'm actually playing, making that dome roar, that's how it's supposed to be," Jones said. "I'm not trying to brag, but I'm pretty sure you guys are going to see a new Chandler Jones."

His coach hopes so.

To know that we have one of our leaders and better players - if not our best player - on defense coming back is a good thing, especially with the way that some of our young guys are coming on," head coach Doug Marrone said before the team departed for New Orleans. "And I think Chandler's itching to get on that field. He's worked extremely hard."

Marrone wouldn't mind having Jones against the Green Wave (2-3), which has a penchant for trick plays. At least he'll have strong safety Shamarko Thomas and nickel back Olando Fisher in the rotation.

`'We just expect to go out there and just play our defense," Fisher said. "We've seen some of their trick plays. We're executing them in practice, going over them to make sure they're in our heads. We'll get ready for everything they've got."

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)