Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Zay Jones returned to the practice field Wednesday for the first time since re-injuring his knee during a Week 5 game against the Buffalo Bills. Still, it was a quick session for Jones, who did only a few drills before heading inside the facility with a trainer after about 20 or 30 minutes on the field.
The road back to the field for Jones has been longer than most expected. Two weeks ago, Jaguars coach Doug Pederson told reporters that Jones would be back at practice just before the receiver was absent once again.
“It’s definitely not what, I think we collectively, would’ve hoped,” Jones told reporters Wednesday of the nagging nature of the injury. “It led me to this point of just trying to be as patient as possible to return to the field safely. I feel like we’re closing that window of time.”
Jones, 28, first injured his knee during a Week 2 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. After sitting out two games, Jones returned but played only 43 percent of the Jaguars’ offensive snaps against the Bills before exiting again.
On Wednesday, he was hesitant to say whether he returned too quickly from the original injury.
“That’s hard to say; you can get hurt in any game you play in,” Jones said. “There’s always that risk factor. I wanted to be out there with my team, so I don’t regret that decision. I think whenever I can be out there at any level to give my best effort for my team, that’s what I’m gonna do.
“This training staff wouldn’t put me back on the field if they didn’t think I was capable of playing. It is what it is at this point. I’m just looking forward to making the next step, maybe tomorrow.”
While Jones will likely continue to work his way back into practice this week, his chances at playing Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers appear slim. For Jones, it’s the slow and steady improvements that matter more at this point.
“I definitely feel like there’s some progress and I’m very grateful. I think the training staff and the weight staff has done a great job of working with me. So I’m grateful to move around a little bit.”
“I think it’s difficult for any of us athletes who are used to going 100 miles per hour and then you’re shut down to zero. Then you’re trying to gauge ‘How do I get back to that peak performance of where I was at?’ For myself, that’s very difficult, but I’m not the only one who goes through it. That’s the challenge of our game. Luckily, we’re surrounded with some of the best people to help coordinate ‘How do we get you back to where you were, if not better?’ And we’ve definitely done that.”
Jones was the Jaguars’ second leading receiver in 2022 and has two touchdowns this year, despite appearing in only three games and getting injured in two of them.
