One of the NFL’s premiere cornerbacks appeared to abruptly call it a career on Saturday — and issued an ominous warning in the process.
Miami Dolphins cornerback Byron Jones, a former All-Pro and Pro Bowler, announced via a pair of tweets that he could no longer “run or jump” and seemingly implied that he was stepping away from the game for good.
Much has changed in 8 years. Today I can’t run or jump because of my injuries sustained playing this game. DO NOT take the pills they give you. DO NOT take the injections they give you. If you absolutely must, consult an outside doctor to learn the long-term implications. https://t.co/g5TTHDQGSY
— Byron Jones (@TheByronJones) February 25, 2023
“Much has changed in 8 years,” Jones tweeted out, while quoting a tweet from 2015 that highlighted his former athletic prowess.
“Today I can’t run or jump because of my injuries sustained playing this game,” Jones added.
That’s when Jones dropped perhaps his most venomous insinuations:
“DO NOT take the pills they give. DO NOT take the injections they give you. If you absolutely must, consult an outside doctor to learn the long-term implications.”
Without outright stating so, it’s pretty evident Jones is decrying the NFL’s approach to injury management. Of note, Jones missed the entire 2022 season for the Dolphins due to injury.
While hearing about injections of cortisone or cocktails of painkillers is hardly anything novel in the NFL, Jones’s critique of the NFL’s pain management philosophy is about as withering as it gets.
Even when star Dallas Cowboy linebacker Micah Parsons recently claimed that “95 percent” of the league pushes players to take painkillers to play through injury, it was largely viewed as more of a passing comment than a scathing critique.
The same can’t be said about Jones’s remarks, which he doubled down on with an inauspicious “welcome” to the incoming NFL rookies:
It was an honor and privilege to play in the NFL but it came at a regrettable cost I did not foresee. 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.
— Byron Jones (@TheByronJones) February 25, 2023
“It was an honor and privilege to play in the NFL but it came at a regrettable cost I did not foresee,” Jones said. “In my opinion, no amount of professional success or financial gain is worth avoidable chronic pain and disabilities.
“Godspeed to the draft class 2023.”
Given that he’s only 30 years old, many fans likely expected a bounce-back season from Jones next year.
Remember, the Dolphins lavished Jones with a 5-year, $82.5 million contract after he had four stellar seasons with the Cowboys. Of note, Jones is still under contract for two more seasons.
That’s a lot of money to give someone who isn’t a quarterback, pass rusher or wide receiver, and the Dolphins had high hopes for their star cornerback tandem of Jones and Xavien Howard (a fellow All-Pro and Pro Bowler.) Howard, holding a 5-year, $90 million contract, and Jones formed the most expensive cornerback pairing in football (according to Over The Cap, the Dolphins are the only team in the NFL with two top-10 paid cornerbacks.)
All of that money spent, however, amounted to Jones and Howard combining for a meager 30 total games played together and exactly zero playoff wins.
Assuming Jones cannot, in fact, “run or jump,” and assuming he’s about to submit retirement papers to the league, it doesn’t look like the vaunted Jones-Howard duo will play a 31st game, nor will it win that ever-elusive playoff game.
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