Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew ended his 38-day holdout on Sunday, and he held a news conference Sunday afternoon to discuss the holdout and his return to practice leading up to Sept. 9's season opener against the Minnesota Vikings.

According to the Associated Press' Mark Long, who was at the news conference Sunday, Jones-Drew kept reiterating that his holdout was nothing more complicated than a principled stand, one that even the running back's agent advised against.

From Long's Twitter account:

MJD: "The way I was raised, if you believe in something, you fight for it. ... At the end of the day, it's about my production and my pay."

Also from Long:

MJD: "I read some articles that said you can never outperform a contract. That's a lie." #Jaguars

Jones-Drew said he had a 40-minute meeting with Jaguars head coach Mike Mularkey just before Sunday's news conference, and that there are no hard feelings over the holdout between the two.

Jones-Drew led the NFL in rushing last season with 1,606 yards, almost 250 yards more than second-place Ray Rice's 1,364 yards. Jaguars running back Rashard Jennings was named the starter for the Week 1 game against the Vikings, but Jones-Drew is eligible to play.

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