The first of Adam Jones’ Bengals teammates has come out supporting the Bengals cornerback.
2016 first round Draft pick William Jackson III was interviewed by TMZ Sports while in North Houston working with Habitat for Humanity. It’s unclear if the interview consisted of anything other than questions about Jones’ arrest, because that’s all they decided to write about.
(Editor’s note: Click here to watch if the video won’t load.)
“I would like him to stay, he’s a great mentor to me on the field,” Jackson said. “Great guy, he’s got a good heart. I don’t know how the team’s going to go with it, but I hope he stays.”
Jones and fellow Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick were quick to embrace Jackson when he was drafted by the team back in April 2016. Nearly immediately the veteran duo took him out to dinner and embraced their new teammate with open arms. It’s no real surprise that Jackson would offer his support toward Jones, though, he is the first Bengals player to publically acknowledge Jones’ arrest.
Regarding second chances, Jackson said, “Everybody deserves a second chance. Nobody’s perfect, I mean, he probably was in the wrong place at the wrong time, I don’t know happened, but I’m pretty sure they’ll get to the bottom of it.”
Jones has had more than just second chances after a number of arrests and NFL suspensions since joining the league. But, the Bengals are still considering his future after his January 3 arrest and the corresponding video released showing some of what went on once he was in custody.
Jackson acknowledged while laughing that he had seen the video of Jones cursing out police officers while on the way to jail.
Jones is due back in court on February 10 while we await further news on his status with the Bengals. Last we heard, he was beginning alcohol and anger management.
(Warning: Explicit language.)