Cincinnati Bengals CB Adam Jones speaks out

Despite facing an assault charge for a downtown incident involving a woman at a local bar, Bengals cornerback Adam Jones is still expected to speak with rookies at this weekend's NFL rookie symposium, writes Mike Garafolo with the USA Today.

With the lone exception of a post-jail interview with ESPN radio, Adam Jones hasn't spoken publicly about the incident until this week when critics questioned the NFL's decision to keep Jones as a guest speaker.

"Why would I not keep talking to the youth and help the youth out like I did last year because of somebody else acting up?" the Cincinnati Bengals cornerback told USA TODAY Sports Tuesday night. "I guess right now I'm getting accused of doing something wrong. The video speaks a thousand words and that'll take care of itself, but I don't see any reason why I should be shying away from any conversations or anything that matters to me and my youth."

The same video actually hasn't proven much, beyond confirming that an incident did take place starting with the woman approaching Jones with a beer bottle and Jones reacting.

"My reputation speaks for itself. I'm a good father, a good husband and I'm good in the community, too. I'm not out getting drunk, harassing people and being a (jerk) to people."

At least Jones realizes that his past transgressions have led to people making quick decisions against Jones when issues like this surface.

"My reputation speaks for itself. I'm a good father, a good husband and I'm good in the community, too. I'm not out getting drunk, harassing people and being a (jerk) to people."

Still, he doesn't feel that blame should be placed at his own feet for continually placing himself in these situations.

"That's ludicrous," he said. "I'm 30 years old, I know how to carry myself, I'm not out acting stupid. I don't want to hear that about how I can't go to a bar. I'm 30 years old. I know how to carry myself as a person. Point blank."

Garafolo adds a quote from Roger Goodell in 2009 that may shed light on a possible suspension.

"We're looking at repeat offenders and we may not wait for the process to conclude when we have repeat offenders," Goodell said during his Super Bowl press conference in 2009. "You can have false accusations once, maybe twice. When you start getting to multiple (arrests), you're putting yourself in the wrong position, you're making the wrong decisions in the wrong places. At that point in time, you're reflecting poorly on the NFL itself, your teammates."