Watts was one of 12 Melbourne players to play for the Casey senior team against Williamstown at Casey Fields last Saturday night.
Celebrating his 21st birthday on Monday, Watts had 26 disposals (20 kicks and six handballs) and booted two goals to push his claims.
Jones said recent criticism of Watts had been “unjust”.
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“I think he does cop it on the chin pretty well,” he said.
“He copped a fair bit in the previous week or two, but he was able to come out and perform on the weekend.”
But Jones added that the 2008 No.1 NAB AFL Draft pick had worked hard in the lead-up to round one.
“He’s done everything that’s expected of a player who’s been put back through the VFL, and he performed really well and to the standard that we’d expect him to perform,” he said.
“He’s put his name up there for selection, so that’ll be decided by Neeldy (Mark Neeld) and the coaching staff towards the end of the week.”
Jones said the leadership group had been strong supporters of Watts.
“I’ve wanted him to perform and get back to some real form,” he said.
“There’s no doubt he was given some pointers to work on by the coaching staff.
“He performed pretty well on the weekend, so he’s definitely put his name up there for selection this week.”
