The 30-year-old won the last of his 34 caps against New Zealand in 2013.
"I had a phone call from Eddie before he picked the England squad saying I need to get back to the running rugby and get hands on the ball in the wide channels," said Foden.
"That's the first time anyone's ever told me that from England - it was always the other way around."
He added to BBC Radio Northampton: "They always said my counter game was good and I was good with ball in the wide channels but the rest of the game needed working on so it was quite bizarre for him to turn around and say that to me."
Saints, losing Premiership semi-finalists last season, have struggled for form this term and are currently seven points off fourth-placed Harlequins in sixth.
And Foden said his conversation with Jones was linked to the problems his club side have had.
"It just shows where we are as a Northampton back-line, we haven't been firing," he added.
"Individually, I haven't been getting the ball in the wide channels and doing what I used to do in a Northampton Saints shirt.
"Hopefully that will light a fire for a few of us - I think Luther [Burrell] had the same conversation as well."

The Tigers, two-time winners of the previous incarnation as the Heineken Cup, went out in the group stage of last year's inaugural Champions Cup.
Racing have never before made it to the last four.
The winners will play Saracens in the final in Lyon on 14 May after they beat Wasps in Saturday's other semi-final.
Leicester have named the same side that beat Northampton in the Premiership last weekend for the tie, which will be held at the City Ground, home of Nottingham Forest.
Head coach Aaron Mauger will come up against compatriot and former All Blacks fly-half Dan Carter, who is in his first season with Racing.
"He's probably been the difference for Racing this year, even though you don't want to pin too much on one person," said Mauger.
"The direction that Dan has given the side has been critical. His composure in those tight moments has been the missing ingredient for them."
Mauger, who helped Crusaders to four Super Rugby titles between 2000 and 2007, also said that the Champions Cup has overtaken the southern hemisphere competition as the premier tournament for clubs.
"I think the Champions Cup is getting bigger, a bit more so now as I believe Super Rugby has been diluted by adding extra teams, which is a bit of a concern for them down there," said Mauger.
"It's probably the most prestigious competition."
Leicester Tigers: Mathew Tait (c), Telusa Veainu, Peter Betham, Manu Tuilagi, Vereniki Goneva, Freddie Burns, Ben Youngs; Marcos Ayerza, Harry Thacker, Dan Cole, Dom Barrow, Graham Kitchener, Mike Fitzgerald, Lachlan McCaffrey, Opeti Fonua.
Replacements: Greg Bateman, Logovi'i Mulipola, Fraser Balmain, Ed Slater, Tom Croft, Sam Harrison, Owen Williams, Adam Thompstone.
Racing 92: Brice Dulin, Joe Rokocoko, Johannes Goosen, Alexandre Dumoulin, Juan Imhoff, Dan Carter, Maxime Machenaud (c); Eddy Ben Arous, Virgile Lacombe, Ben Tameifuna, Luke Charteris, Francois van der Merwe, Wenceslas Lauret, Bernard Le Roux, Chris Masoe.
Replacements: Camille Chat, Khatchik Vartanov, Luc Ducalcon, Manuel Carizza, Antonie Claassen, Mike Phillips, Remi Tales, Louis Dupichot.
Northampton full-back Ben Foden says England head coach Eddie Jones has told him to "get back to running rugby".
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Leicester Tigers will look to reach their first European Cup final since 2009 when they meet French side Racing 92 at Welford Road on Sunday.