The Cincinnati Bengals will open their 2017 regular season with a divisional game against the Baltimore Ravens and they’ll likely do so without the services of one of their starting cornerbacks.
On Friday, the NFL announced they have notified Bengals veteran cornerback Adam Jones that he will be suspended without pay for the first 2017 regular season game for violating the league’s Personal Conduct Policy.
In May, Jones reportedly entered a plea of guilty to obstruction of official business stemming from a January 2017 incident. The state court imposed a sentence of time served (two days’ confinement) and court fees. Jones was arrested this offseason for three misdemeanors and a felony. He was charged with assault, disorderly conduct and obstructing official business.
According to the criminal complaint obtained by Fox19.com at the time, Jones was accused of assaulting a man by “pushing and poking” him in the eye. The NFL revealed on Friday that they explained in a letter to Jones that part of the reason he was suspended for one game was because the “extensive video documentation of the tone, tenor and nature of your interactions with law enforcement at the site of your arrest, during transportation to the jail, and during the booking process.”
Jones is certainly no stranger to league discipline as he was suspended from the NFL for the entire 2007 season and for part of the 2008 season for other off-field issues.
Barring him winning any sort of an appeal, the Bengals will likely be forced to play to play either William Jackson III or Darqueze Dennard in place of Jones at cornerback opposite starter Dre Kirkpatrick against the Ravens to open the 2017 regular season.
Jones is scheduled to earn a base salary of $6.8 million in 2017. He has been a member of the Bengals since 2010 and has registered 11 interceptions during that span of time in Cincinnati. Jones has also returned both punts and kickoffs for the Bengals during his career.
While Jones is currently suspended for the Bengals 2017 regular season opener, he’ll still be allowed to participate during training camp and play during the preseason.
