South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Jones hints at reason he didn’t play in ’22 season
Miami Dolphins cornerback Byron Jones has been largely silent since his recovery from lower left leg surgery last offseason didn’t progress to ever allow him to play in the 2022 season.
But on Saturday, Jones tweeted revelatory yet somewhat cryptic statements about what went wrong.
The posts were sparked by the official NFL Twitter account posting video of Jones’ record long jump of 12 feet, 3 inches at the 2015 scouting combine, as this year’s combine takes place in Indianapolis over the coming week. He then quickly deleted the two-tweet thread but reposted it over an original post from back in 2015.
“Much has changed in 8 years,” Jones began. “Today I can’t run or jump because of my injuries sustained playing this game.”
That much revealed the extent and seriousness to which his progress has failed to materialize since undergoing surgery in March 2022.
Then, his take took a turn, going in an apparent accusatory route of the care he received.
“DO NOT take the pills they give you,” Jones wrote. “DO NOT take the injections they give you. If you absolutely must, consult an outside doctor to learn the longterm implications.”
In another tweet underneath that one, Jones seemed to reveal that he could potentially be done playing football, speaking of his seven-year career — before missing last season — in the past tense.
“It was an honor and privilege to play in the NFL but it came at a regrettable cost I did not foresee,” he wrote. “In my opinion, no amount of professional success or financial gain is worth avoidable chronic pain and disabilities. Godspeed to the draft class of 2023.”
Jones’ rehab was initially expected to allow him to return for 2022 training camp, but he was instead placed on the physically-unable-to-perform list in late July as practices opened. Still on PUP as the regular season opened, he was then automatically out for the first four weeks. In the middle months of the season, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel answered week-toweek that Jones was not yet ready to return to football activity before finally deeming it unlikely for Jones to play last season in December.
“Byron worked hard trying to get back,” Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said in season-ending comments a day after Miami’s elimination in a wild-card playoff round loss at the Buffalo Bills. “Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. He did his best. Training, doctors, everybody worked hard.”
Jones, who spent the first five seasons of his career with the Dallas Cowboys, including one Pro Bowl campaign in 2018, has 95 tackles, two interceptions and 14 pass deflections over two seasons in Miami.
He signed a five-year, $82.5 million contract with the Dolphins in the 2020 offseason. He carries a cap hit of roughly $18.35 million in 2023, but none of his $13.5 million base salary is guaranteed. If Miami releases Jones with a post-June 1 designation, it can cut his dead money to about $4.75 million — as opposed to roughly $14.8 million if cut pre-June 1.