Reshad Jones has remained a free agent since the Dolphins released him March 18. The safety told Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post on Monday that he won’t play this season and is uncertain whether he ever will play again. He has a neck injury and surgery is on hold because of the pandemic. Jones, 32, spoke about his career in the past tense. “I don’t have any regrets about my 10-year career, saying I should have done this or should have done that,” said Jones, who played only four games last season. “If I play again is still in the air, but you know I feel like I got in and did everything I needed to do. “A nine-year starter. A fifth-round draft pick. Didn’t get anything handed to me. I had to get in and work for everything. And then I get in and put the numbers up. You go look at sacks, interceptions, tackles, go look at anybody, Eric Berry, Earl Thomas, any top safety, and there is no safety better in the last decade than Reshad Jones.” Jones made two Pro Bowls in 10 seasons. He never was All-Pro. But Jones argues that voters should have elected him to the All-Decade team, which included Berry, Thomas and Eric Weddle, insisting he “really had Hall of Fame numbers.” Jones ranked first in tackles for loss, first in sacks, first in fumble recoveries, second in solo tackles, third in interceptions and first in touchdowns scored among players at his position from 2010-19, per Schad. “There is no way I shouldn’t have been on the All-Decade team,” Jones said. “You go look at any safety. Eric Berry, whoever. The numbers can’t compare. They don’t add up.”
That's sad- he was excellent when he was healthy. But he has the wrong attitude and I think we would have parted ways even if he was healthy.
Football is a violent game and if Jones' injuries are still significant or potentially an issue for future re-injury, than retirement isn't that bad of an idea. In fact, it may be quite smart. Players have to realize from the day the begin playing football that there has to be a plan for life after football. Football isn't forever and they have to be able to actually LIVE a life rather than just exist in excruciating and agonizing pain day after day.
Jones had quite the career. Its kind of cool that it fit entirely within one decade. He was certainly one of the top two players on the Fins the last ten years, along with Wake. All time, Jones is tied for second in Miami history for most starts as a DB, with 113. (Sam Madison had 127). He's tied for 9th all time in Dolphins history for most starts among all defensive players, and 12th all time for most games played among all defenders. Given how often he had the knack for making the big play, it feels astounding that he only had two seasons with more than three interceptions (2012 and 2015). He ranks 12th all time in Miami history with 21 interceptions. He's tied with Zach Thomas for most INT return TDs, with 4.
Why can't he have his surgery? Hospitals are back to normal business...I had surgery on my knee almost two months ago.
The human body can only take so much punishment. Jones has been playing at less than full strength for a while now.
Everything he said in that interview was past tense...I had...I was...etc. Even if he hasn't said it out loud yet, Jones has accepted that his career is over and it's time to move onto the next chapter in his life. I agree with him that he belonged on that all-decade team, and that nod probably would have secured a HOF bid someday. Some players never get that recognition though because of circumstances...it's hard to stand out with 4 or 5 coaches on the same team across your career and zero playoff wins. That shouldn't play a factor but it always does, and the fact that we were average made his top-tier skills a lot less noticeable. It sucks but that's just how it goes in fan/league voting.
You're certainly right there. Jones will never get the national recognition that he deserves due to the perception around the franchise. He played for four full time head coaches in ten years, two of whom were fired mid season. He played on one winning team, and took part in one playoff game. Unless you watched the games, you didn't see it, and all but a handful of the big plays that he made came in Sunday 1pm games that weren't nationally televised.
Yeah I get that, but it was started that he couldn't have the surgery due to coronavirus. That doesn't make sense to me.
Well, depending where he is, some places are obviously a lot safer than others. Some people are just more cautious too. I've personally cancelled all of my doctors appointments for the rest of the year, because I don't think that its worth the risk. Surgery is even moreso. There could be complications, even with a shoulder.
He has a valid case. I think that both he and Wake will get consideration. I mean, if you aren't going to give it to one of the best players on the team from an entire decade, then you might be too strict.
We are about 3 years too late to trade him off.. i honestly felt we missed out on an opportunity to trade him to Atlanta last year when Keanu Neal got injured. Reshad would have been back home and probably had his motivation revitalized.
The problem with that timing is that he had just signed his huge extension the year before, and it would have caused a huge amount of dead money to hit the Dolphins cap. I had been in favor of trading him before that, but once the deal was done, he wasn't going anywhere.
Good. I'm not the type to talk **** about former players, especially good ones, but hes just a loser who quit on his team repeatedly. Noone wants his toxic behaviour in their locker room. He has money, he will live, but I hope that loser never puts on a uniform again. He doesnt deserve the priveledge of being an NFL player.
It may be an apples to oranges comparison but I know that towards the end of my military career I was waking up every morning with tons of aches and pains. Now while my career wasn’t as violently physical as a professional football player’s, I would have to think it’s the same thing. I can only imagine the aches and pains their bodies are feeling waking up each and every morning.
It is pretty painful just listening to their stories, having watched various interviews from former players and documentaries. Remember Brett Favre had a Vicodin addiction in the 90s, he used to take 15 a day at one point because of all the injuries he played through. Also note That he was the ultimate iron man, never missed a start till very late in his career. and there are worse examples out there of players suffering pain. For a lot of players their heart isnt retired, but their brain and bodies are. Andrew Luck’s speech last year told that story.
Reshad Jones is not a loser, he hated to lose. The team was a loser. You can't blame Reshad for ****ty coaching and ****ty teammates. When healthy Reshad always put in the work and left it all on the field. He is one of the best, if not the best safety in dolphins history.
Highly talented player. There is absolutely no question. But I think that there was always the question of how much of a team player he was. Reshad had great instincts and would often come up with the big play, but even at his best, he was out of position more than you would like and would give up plays to the other team too. His freelancing was a double edged sword that won the team games that absolutely would have lost without him, but also cost them sometimes too.
Didn't he refuse to going to a game in 2018 because he got pulled? I think that is the lack of being a team player that is referred to.
I dont care if you're on the worst team of all time, that doesnt give a player the right to give up. Bottom line I dont want a player who has given up in any situation on my team. Only mentally weak people react that way in my opinion. Also you're leaving out the fact his hissy fit was because he lost a few reps and the team was better without him. How would you react if your son threw a hissy fit because his pop Warner team sucked or he lost a few reps? If I had one I'd tell him to get rid of his entitled attitude and be a man about it, be the change you want not an additional problem. Jones is worse than that example because he was paid well.
Its scary how much times flies, when I read his career might be over I'm thinking what a shame, he's probably about 28 years old and he's done......then I see he's 32. I remember it like yesterday how excited I was when we drafted him out of Georgia. Damn.
The older we get, the faster time moves. We're almost as far away from the Wanny era now as the length of Marinos whole career.
I've pondered on this for some time and don't believe it's true. I think we just move slower and we're consumed with more things to do.
I think that there are a lot of sides to it. For example, for a five year old, a year is 20% of their life. For a ten year old, its 10%, 5% for a 20 year old and so on. And so depending on how old you are, everything seems like its bigger and longer when you're young. Also the older that we get, the more stuff we have stored in our brains by default. Some of it important, a lot of it not. And the younger you are, the more your mind and body are striving for knowledge and experiences. The more full we get, the less our minds focus on getting more, and the less exciting everything becomes. The less exciting life is, the quicker it all seems to move.
Time is an extremely interesting topic because it's based on perception. Our actions can make time move fast or slow depending on our perception. For example- waiting out the last few days before vacation....it takes forever. The time spent on that vacation....it flies by in a blink of an eye. It's our relationship with time that makes the difference at any age.
Very true! I hear the saying that life moves fast and I agree with that. However...Life is very long for some of us. A lot of **** happens. As you pointed out, it's perception. I work outside and I have a very fast paced job. The day flies by and it seems as though there is never enough hours in the day to complete my task (in regards to work). When I was working a factory job in my 20s, a 12 hour shift seemed to drag on for an eternity. Waiting in a doctors office to be seen by a doctor can take forever, waiting in line at Wal Mart can last forever. A date night with my wife or a quick getaway goes by in the blink of an eye.