Promising Patriots Rookie Jack Jones Suspended Over ‘Miscommunication’

New England Patriots

Getty New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick yells on the sidelines.

While the New England Patriots have one more game left in the 2022 regular season, two players have been suspended for the rest of the year.

Rookie Jack Jones and fourth-year punter Jake Bailey were placed on the reserve/suspended list on Friday, January 6, per the NFL’s official transaction wire. Both players were previously on injured reserve with the rookie having a knee injury and Bailey having a back injury.

Jones had a great start to his NFL career leading up to the news on Friday. In 13 games played this season, Jones had racked up 30 tackles and 2 interceptions, per Pro Football Reference.

With his exciting play, Jones looked like the future of New England’s secondary. That future isn’t as clear anymore. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported that the suspension is the result of missed rehab appointments.

“Patriots CB Jack Jones was suspended in part for being late to rehab sessions, per sources (he injured his knee against AZ in December). Not great for a guy who slipped in the draft because of character questions,” Breer wrote on Twitter. “Jones, when healthy, has flashed a bunch as a rookie.”

For Bailey, the issue seems to be a disagreement in his rehab process. ESPN’s Mike Reiss reported that “the suspension is due, in part, to differing viewpoints on if Bailey was ready to return to game action.”


Jack Jones’ Agent Believes There Was a ‘Miscommunication’

After the news broke, Jones’ agent J. Tooson provided a statement, via NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, to give the cornerback’s side of the story.

“Jack is focused on recovering and getting back to help the Patriots as soon as possible. Regarding the suspension, it appears to be based on miscommunication regarding Jack’s rehab process. I’m hopeful we’ll reach an amicable resolution for both Jack and the Patriots.”

This isn’t the first time that Jones has been in the public eye. Jones, started his college career at USC in 2016 but he was later declared academically ineligible and went to Moorpark Junior College for the 2018 season before transferring to Arizona State.

While at Arizona State, Jones was arrested on two felony charges — suspicion of commercial burglary under $950 not during business hours, and conspiracy to commit a crime. Then in 2020, he was suspended for fighting during an Arizona State practice.

After drafting Jones in April 2022, Patriots director of player personnel Matt Groh touched upon the process of selecting Jones amid his off-the-field issues.

“I feel like I’ve been watching Jack Jones for a while now, following his career,” Groh said. “That’s what happens with some of these highly touted recruits. We’ve spent a lot of time with Jack to try and get comfortable and understand the different situations that he’s felt, and feel good about kind of getting to know him and understanding those situations to have a process in place to be able to add him to our program.”


Bill Belichick Leads the Patriots Through a Unique Week 18

New England’s Week 18 matchup is a crucial one but the build-up to the game has been far from normal with the entire world fixated on the health of Damar Hamlin.

Patriots captain Matthew Slater talked about what the team has seen from Belichick this past week.

“I think so often people like to paint Bill as being this emotionless guy that just kind of cares about one thing and has a one-track mind,” Slater said. “But this week I have certainly seen the compassion and empathy, the human side, if you will, of Bill.

“His concern for Damar, his concern for what’s going on over there with the Bills and then his concern for how our players are processing this, how our families are processing this, he’s made every resource available that he possibly can and he’s been very compassionate. I think it’s really helped the team navigate the week, and you definitely tip your hat to the way he’s led in this time.”

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