What ever happened to Matt Jones?
by Bengal mayhem on Sep 7, 2010 10:00 PM EDT
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WIth the dust finally settling after the recent madness over the receiver competition, I'm still scratching my head wondering what happened to Matt Jones. Can someone enlighten me as to why he didn't even make it in the top 6? The dude is 6'6", has blazing speed, veteren experience - yet still relatively young at 27, and had 65 catches in 12 games during his last NFL season as a number 2 reciever. How did we not find a role for him? I for one was excited to see him, envisioning him as a replacement for Chris Henry - someone who could be a legitimate deep threat. Now, we've got to rely on Jerome "I haven't been able to touch the field in 2 years" Simpson to fill that void if TO goes down? All the others are slot recievers.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors.
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He got cut.
Oh, and I think you’re thinking of the wrong guy. “Blazing speed” is not a good description in any sense.
"Before I write I let my mind go blind and let the Lord do His thing. " -Tupac Shakur
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it looks like work." -Thomas Edison
cocaine’s a hell of a drug.
apparently, it sucked the football ability right out of matt jones.
i'm going to go america all over your ass!
They tried to make him to practice...
He said “Nooooo, no, no!”
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by Pardon_My_French on Sep 7, 2010 10:19 PM EDT reply actions
Practice???
….aah…I’m sure you’ve heard it already…
LOL
by TheWalrus1971 on Sep 7, 2010 10:49 PM EDT up reply actions
I think you meant Adam Jones, didn't you?
Matt Jones and blazing speed were two trains that left from separate stations a long time ago.
he can't separate; his 40 time is purely a long stride
that and he really isn’t all that good at catching the ball
by bengaljohnboy on Sep 7, 2010 11:18 PM EDT up reply actions
In MJs Defense
He did appear to have good hands, at least in that first preseason game.
This is our year!
The one catch was pretty sweet, but...
for a guy of his height, he loses a lot of jump balls to shorter CB’s because he doesn’t attack the ball. As for his lack of separation, check out game film from the preseason and he was getting shutdown by guys that didn’t even make the roster.
by bengaljohnboy on Sep 8, 2010 11:44 AM EDT up reply actions
Well he apparently caught well enough in Jacksonville to grab 65 receptions in 12 games (which would be projected to 87 catches during a full season). I guess I’m frustrated because I see Jerome Simpson, who hasn’t proven anything in two years, taking up a hotly-contested roster spot over a guy who has at least produced and can provide a Chris Henry remniscent big target/deep threat. And do we really need three short slot receivers in Caldwell, Shipley, and Cosby?
and he screwed up enough in 2008
that no team would touch him in 2009. quoted from wiki:
“On July 10, 2008 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Jones was arrested at gunpoint and charged with felony possession of a controlled substance.3
Jones and one other former Arkansas football player, Jared Hicks, along with another person, Benjamin Cook, were inside a vehicle that was searched by police. The police found a plastic bag filled with six grams of a white substance that tested positive as cocaine and a jar with possible marijuana residue. Officers questioned Jones and he acknowledged the white powder was, in fact, cocaine, the report said.
Jones’ dad, Steve Jones, refuted the allegations that his son was involved in any wrongdoing, releasing a statement which was posted on the web site of a Fayetteville television station, KNWA-TV: “We want to make it clear that Matt was not in possession of any drugs, but that there were drugs in the vehicle and were located in the closest proximity to Matt.”
On October 8, 2008, an agreement was reached between Jones and the Washington County Prosecutor’s Office. Prosecutor John Threet agreed to send the case to drug court on October 13, 2008. Prosecutors said the felony charge would be dismissed if Jones completes the drug program. A hearing in drug court, rather than in the regular criminal system, allows Jones to keep any conviction off his record.
The NFL suspended Jones for three weeks for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. He was in the lineup for Week 8, pending an appeal.4 On December 9, 2008, the NFL upheld Jones’ three-game suspension which caused him to miss the rest of the season.5
On March 9, 2009 in Washington County, Jones was arrested again after failing a drug test which showed that he had alcohol in his system. This violated the condition of his probation6. He was held in jail after he asked to be imprisoned rather than sent to a six-week residential treatment program that would have interfered with the beginning of training camp. He was released on March 14, 2009 after his latest arrest, but will be back in court on April 13.7"
"wherever Brad St. Louis is and Shayne Graham is about to be." -R.F. Mehl
"I guess I’m frustrated because I see Jerome Simpson, who hasn’t proven anything in two years"
Understandable. But Jones isn’t a good argument against Simpson, considering that Jones himself was out of football since December 7, 2008.
If you really want to see what happens with Matt Jones, watch how many other teams snag him up and how long it takes, if it happens at all.
Blogger at CincyJungle.com -- SB Nation Cincinnati Bengals blog.
by Josh Kirkendall on Sep 8, 2010 9:03 AM EDT up reply actions
Jones
Big knock on him was that he was incredibly slow off the line of scrimmage. His top speed might be fast, but by the time he accelerated quick enough, the play was already over or being decided. This offense is a quick passing, rushing offense. Jones didn’t fit at all with the scheme.
Blogger at CincyJungle.com -- SB Nation Cincinnati Bengals blog.
Yep, they're establishing their identity for 2010
and M. Jones isn’t a part of that. I love the new identity, and I still kind of like Jones, but they’re incompatible.
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by Pardon_My_French on Sep 8, 2010 9:28 AM EDT up reply actions
Okay, point taken.
Not sure I see validity anymore in the bad charecter/former drug problems argument since we’ve made up a roster full of those types of players – including the late Chris Henry.
Maybe Matt Jones isn’t it, but I feel like we’re missing an alternate deep threat to TO (who at age 37, is vulnerable to season-ending injuries) who can stretch the defense by drawing double coverage 30 yards down the field and opening up the running/short game. Plus, we have a quarterback with a strong arm who is capable of making the 40 yard pass (i.e. long bomb to Chris Henry on the opening drive of the Bengals’ playoff game against the Steelers). Why not further enable him to utilize that ability?
Jones isn't much of a deep threat.
Our deep threats are T.O and Cosby. If one of them goes down there’s a chance that Simpson can finally step in and be the receiver he’s supposed to be.
"Before I write I let my mind go blind and let the Lord do His thing. " -Tupac Shakur
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it looks like work." -Thomas Edison
My prediction
If Chad or TO goes down for any amount of time this year, we’ll see Jerome Simpson stretching defenses on the outside. No Maurice Purify character this year to soak up time on Special Teams. Once we see an injury, we’ll see Simpson on the field
JERMAINE GRESHAM
Apparently he is not as fast as he was. And watching those games didnt look to me like he was giving 100 percent. Jerome Is a prospect but probably wont be anything more than a 700-800 yard guy at best(considering our receivers getting injured). We still have Jermaine Gresham, were just not used to having a Real Tight End to know that he will be a real threat in the passing game with 1000 yard plus capability. Now if he and TO went down we would be needing to look at the market for a full back and run!!!! run!!!! run !!!! run!!!!
I was acutally going to say something about Gresham
he looked SLOW. He also looked like he lacked heart, but if he keeps making plays I’m OK with that I guess.
by Throw the ball on Sep 13, 2010 10:40 PM EDT up reply actions
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