BEREA, Ohio — Dawand Jones felt the sting, not just physically but emotionally, when he went down on the field in Week 3 with a season-ending knee injury.
"Honestly, it sucked. I cried, I cried tears. It happens. But I put in a lot of work this offseason. I got to do the same thing again, unfortunately, but it is what it is. Part of the game. Got to chalk it up," Jones said.
Jones has suffered season-ending injuries in each of his three seasons in the league. He's had an MCL tear his rookie year, a broken fibula his second year and, most recently, an LCL tear he sustained in Week 3.
"I was out there, I felt in the air I was going to probably have one of my best games and it got snatched away from me. But I'm going back to the drawing board next year and just going to keep doing it like I did last year and I should have a chance. That's my main goal," Jones said.
While Jones has been no stranger to injuries in his young NFL career, this isn't something he's been familiar with prior to the NFL.
It's been an unfortunate stretch for Jones.
"Probably broken one bone in my body, my wrist, but that was the only thing. It’s definitely been a rude awakening and like I said, it sucks. It's part of the game. So I kind of just look at it like that," Jones said. "It’s out of my hands half the time. The first one got pulled forward and my MCL, and then had the broken leg last year, Wyatt [Teller] fell on it, nothing that he could control. And then [Packers safety Javon Bullard] went through my leg. There's nothing I really could control through those three injuries. I’m just trying to face it, fight through it, get back to me.
But as Jones has rehabbed each injury, he's found a method to do so.
"The first thing I do when I get hurt is just look up guys that had the same injury for me and come back from the same injury. So for my MCL, I forget who I looked up, but then for my broken leg I looked up obviously Paul George, Jusuf Nurkic, those are some guys that broke their—I didn't do my tibia, so thank God. And the third one, I want to say it was Will Smith, maybe, that did the same, I think he tore his hammy. And so I try to just put my mindset to that because those guys back out there playing, they're doing the same profession I am," Jones said.
Taking lessons from other professional athletes has provided Jones with a guide through his recovery, which he says has only been aided by the support of his teammates and coaches along the way.
"Whether it's the defense, offense, special team guys, they're all just trying to make sure I'm in good spirits, which I already am. I try to come in with a smile," Jones said.
And as he leans into his rehab, Jones hopes to bounce back and have a healthy season on the offensive line, and while he said he'd rather play right tackle, he's open to giving left tackle another shot because, for Jones, he's just eager to be able to play again.
"I should be cleared by OTAs. So, yeah, that's my timeline, just the nine months. I'm just sticking with that," Jones said. "My future is whatever the team needs me to play. I would love to play right, right tackle. But whatever the team needs me to do, I will do."
