Don Jones II (born May 14, 1990) is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Arkansas State Red Wolves.
 Jones with the Houston Texans in Jan. 2017 | |||||||
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| Position: | Safety | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born: | May 14, 1990 Town Creek, Alabama, U.S. | ||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||
| Weight: | 195 lb (88 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school: | Hazlewood (Town Creek, Alabama) | ||||||
| College: | Arkansas State | ||||||
| NFL draft: | 2013 / round: 7 / pick: 250 | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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Early life
editJones played as a running back and defensive back for the Hazlewood Golden Bears in Town Creek, Alabama, where he was coached by Aaron Goode. He starred as a guard on the basketball team, coached by Shane Childress. As a senior, Jones won the Class 1A 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters in track. Jones ran for 1,869 yards and 22 touchdowns his senior year and had scholarship offers from 10 Division I schools. In July 2007, before his senior year, Jones was timed at 4.38 in a 40-yard dash at the Alabama-Birmingham football camp.[1]
College career
editHe played college football for the Arkansas State Red Wolves, where he started as a running back for head coach Steve Roberts. While with the Red Wolves, Jones rushed for 149 yards and two touchdowns on 24 attempts and had 12 catches for 146 yards and a score as a freshman in 2009.
He then transferred to Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, where he played safety. He then returned to Arkansas State in 2011, where he moved to defensive back and linebacker.
Professional career
editMiami Dolphins (first stint)
editJones was selected in the seventh round (250th overall) by the Miami Dolphins.[2] He received a 50.2 grade on his NFL.com draft profile.[3]
Don Jones made a game-changing play for the Dolphins on September 22, 2013, against the Atlanta Falcons in the Dolphins' first home game of the season. Covering a punt on special teams, Jones forced a fumble when he hit punt returner Harry Douglas with 1:48 left in the third quarter. The Dolphins, trailing at the time 20-13, recovered the loose ball and scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive and went on to win 27-23. The victory improved the Dolphins' record to 3-0. He played on the special teams in all 16 regular-season games for the Dolphins, who finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs. On December 24, 2013, Jones was named to the Professional Football Writers Association (PFWA)'s All-Rookie Team as the kick gunner on special teams.[4]
On Twitter, Jones wrote "Horrible" and "OMG" shortly after the drafting of Michael Sam by the St. Louis Rams and was promptly fined by the Dolphins and suspended from team activities. He was required to undergo educational training before he can return to the team.[5] Jones was reinstated on May 19, 2014, after completing the training.[6]
Jones was waived by the Dolphins on August 31, 2014.
New England Patriots
editThe New England Patriots claimed Jones off waivers on September 1, 2014. He was cut on Thanksgiving (November 27).[7]
Miami Dolphins (second stint)
editJones signed with the Dolphins on November 28, 2014.[8]
New Orleans Saints
editJones was signed to the New Orleans Saints practice squad on September 7, 2015, and was promoted to the active roster five days later. After appearing in five games on special teams, he was waived on October 13.[9]
Cleveland Browns
editJones was claimed off waivers by the Cleveland Browns on October 14, 2015.[10]
On March 17, 2016, Jones signed a one-year contract with the Cleveland Browns worth $1,671,000.[11][12] He was released on October 4, 2016.[13]
Houston Texans
editOn October 19, 2016, Jones was signed by the Houston Texans.[14]
San Francisco 49ers
editOn March 10, 2017, Jones signed a two-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers.[15] He was placed on injured reserve on September 2, 2017, after suffering an ACL injury.[16] On July 25, 2018, Jones was waived by the 49ers.[17]
NFL career statistics
edit| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sack | PD | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2013 | MIA | 16 | 0 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 0.0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 0 |
| 2014 | NE | 9 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0.0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| MIA | 4 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | |
| 2015 | NO | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| CLE | 9 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0.0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | |
| 2016 | CLE | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| HOU | 9 | 0 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 0.0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | |
| Source: [18] | 56 | 0 | 40 | 35 | 5 | 0.0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 0 | |
Personal life
editIn April 2018, Jones returned to Lawrence County, Alabama, to escort a special needs student to her senior prom.[19]
References
edit- ^ "Aiming for blue postseason". The Decatur Daily. Archived from the original on December 4, 2011. Retrieved August 18, 2007.
- ^ "DB Don Jones of Arkansas State drafted by Dolphins". The Miami Herald. April 27, 2013. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
- ^ "Don Jones Draft Profile". NFL.com. National Football League. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
- ^ "2013 NFL All-Rookie Team". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved August 3, 2024.
- ^ Walker, James (May 12, 2014). "Don Jones apologizes for tweet". ESPN. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
- ^ Hanzus, Dan (May 19, 2014). "Report: Don Jones reinstated after Michael Sam tweets". NFL.com. National Football League. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
- ^ Alper, Josh (November 28, 2014). "Patriots release Don Jones". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
- ^ Wilkening, Mike (November 28, 2014). "Dolphins bring back Don Jones". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports. Retrieved November 28, 2014.
- ^ Woodbery, Evan (October 13, 2015). "New Orleans Saints waive DB Don Jones to make room for Joe Morgan". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
- ^ Woodbery, Evan (October 14, 2015). "Former New Orleans Saints DB Don Jones claimed by Cleveland Browns". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
- ^ "Browns sign DB Rahim Moore". Cleveland Browns. Archived from the original on March 19, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
- ^ Spotrac.com. "Don Jones". Spotrac.com. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
- ^ "Browns sign TE Connor Hamlett to active roster". Cleveland Browns. Archived from the original on October 11, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
- ^ "Texans sign Jones, add Dunn to active roster". Houston Texans. October 19, 2016. Archived from the original on October 20, 2016. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
- ^ "49ers Sign DB Don Jones". San Francisco 49ers. March 10, 2017. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
- ^ "49ers Cut Roster Down to 53 Players". San Francisco 49ers. September 2, 2017. Archived from the original on March 2, 2018.
- ^ "49ers Announce Several Roster Moves". San Francisco 49ers. July 25, 2018. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
- ^ "Don Jones Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
- ^ "NFL player Don Jones takes teen to prom for special-needs students". CBS News. Associated Press. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
External links
edit- Arkansas State bio
Media related to Don Jones at Wikimedia Commons
