In the more than five years since a bizarre and frightening night at a Los Angeles apartment building, Zay Jones hasn’t talked much about the time he nearly jumped from a 30th floor window. In a conversation with reporter Tyler Dunne, Jones opened up about the incident even if he doesn’t have many answers to explain what happened.
“That night was such a mysterious night for me,” Jones told Dunne. “First, I was with some people I shouldn’t have been with. I never wanted to completely know what was in my system. I left it for what it was. I could only imagine. But I didn’t really want to know.”
Jones, 28, was arrested in March 2018 for felony vandalism stemming from the incident. Video published by TMZ Sports from the night showed a nude Jones in a physical struggle with his brother, Cayleb Jones. After briefly escaping his brother, the then-Buffalo Bills wide receiver smashed his foot through a window on the 30th floor and reportedly tried to squeeze through the hole, leaving blood all over the walls and floor of the building.
“That night could’ve ended my life,” Jones says. “I’m grateful for another opportunity at life. I’m grateful to play this game. I’m grateful to be breathing and living and talking. Even to you. From the lens of seeing the brevity of life and how quickly things can change — they can go.”
Jones was traded to the Oakland Raiders less than a year after the incident and he joined the Jacksonville Jaguars as a free agent in 2022. In his first season with the team, Jones put up career-best numbers, finishing the year with 82 receptions for 823 yards with five touchdowns.
In the remainder of the conversation with Dunne, Jones discussed his battles with depression, his career rebirth, and the impact of his father, former NFL linebacker Robert Jones.
