ARLINGTON, Texas -- Cyrus Jones doesn’t back down.

Not from the spotlight. Not from negativity. Not from a receiver who's half a foot taller than he is.

While many Alabama players appear to be robotic off the football field and keep their emotions in check, Jones is quite the opposite. The senior cornerback from Maryland isn’t afraid to engage.

After one game this year, he took to Twitter and went on a retweeting rampage, reposting messages like, “Sometimes Cyrus Jones just .. Irks me!!” and “The day Cyrus Jones learns to hold onto the football is the day hell freezes over and pigs fly #butterfingers.”

Before playing Auburn, Jones told reporters that the team's receivers were “nothing special.”

When Ohio State wide receiver Michael Thomas tweeted about Alabama’s supposed strength of schedule before the SEC title game, Jones went on the offensive. He called the tweet “delusional” and came back to post later asking someone to “record the OSU game for me this weekend,” knowing full well that the Buckeyes hadn’t reached the Big Ten championship.

Then at media day for the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic last week, Jones simply refused to speak with reporters during the hour-long interview session.

Jones reportedly said that he wanted to let his play do the talking. And that’s exactly what he did, earning Defensive MVP, thanks to three tackles, an interception and a punt return for a touchdown.

He didn’t have to say much after Alabama’s 38-0 shutout of Michigan State, which helped earn the Crimson Tide a trip to Arizona to face No. 1-ranked Clemson in the College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T (Jan. 11, 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN).

“You could kind of sense their frustration a little bit,” Jones said of Michigan State after the game. “I see it in their faces.”

Coach Nick Saban said of Jones, “It’s not like all of the sudden he just became a good player. He’s always been a good player for us.”

That doesn’t mean that everyone has been paying attention, though.

Jones, despite being a two-year starter and the leader of one of the best secondaries in the country, is the best college football cornerback that you don’t know about. He has one of the best nicknames -- Clamp Clampington -- that you’ve probably never heard. When all-conference teams were named and awards season was in full swing last month, his name wasn’t even part of the conversation.

When you ask teammates about the ever-present chip on Jones’ shoulder, you can start there.

“That’s the type of guy he is,” said linebacker Reggie Ragland, “but he also feels like he should have gotten mentioned in some of those awards and accolades in the postseason. And he should have, in my personal opinion. Not a lot of teams have caught passes on him.”

Said fellow corner Marlon Humphrey: “I can’t really think of many balls Cyrus has given up this time of year. Most of the time, the shots were always thrown at me that were completed. I know he’s a great corner and sometimes he gets overlooked because of his size I guess.”

Generously listed at 5-foot-10, Jones’ lack of height has been a point of discussion every year since he switched from receiver to DB as a sophomore. It hasn’t mattered that he’s more than held his own against the 6-foot-5 De'Runnya Wilsons of the SEC.

Alphonse Taylor, an offensive lineman and one of Jones’ best friends on the team, said Jones has developed “Little Man Syndrome.”

“All those little people are confident in themselves, and I think he has that,” Taylor said. “If he heard me say that, he’d kill me.”

He added on a more serious note: “We live by the motto ‘F.I.N.A.O.: Failure is not an option.’ When you doubt us, it just pushes us harder to prove you wrong.”

The slights in the media -- regardless of whether it's social or mass media -- are “fuel” for Jones, according to Maurice Smith, another fellow defensive back.

Smith said the other DBs had a group message going when Jones went after the Ohio State receiver on Twitter. They laughed at Jones, he said, knowing that he was “going to get an earful" from the coaching staff.

Asked about Jones retweeting all those negative comments, Smith said he wasn’t surprised.

“They told us not to and he still did it,” he said. “I knew that he would because that’s the type of person he is. But he backs it up. He is a little hothead.”

Whether Jones pops off again before facing Clemson on Jan. 11 remains to be seen.

He may take to Twitter or he may say something through the media. Then again, he may go into full radio silence as he prepares to face the Tigers.

But one thing is certain: He’s listening and he’ll respond one way or another.

Go ahead, call Jones short. Point out that three of Clemson’s top four pass-catchers are 6-foot-2 or taller. See what happens.

“He uses that to his advantage,” Smith said. “They look at him like, ‘OK, I’m going to throw on him,’ and then he turns around and gets a pick. Then that side of the field is shut down the rest of the game.”