On a serious note, the way we handled Jones was plain stupid. He's a talented kid. He's so talented that there were at least two possible positives that could've happened. One, we might've been able to coach him up, work out those fumbling issues, and maybe get him running a little less upright. I never sensed a lack of heart, desire, or work ethic in the kid. The 2nd possibility was maintaining his trade value. When you send the guy to Siberia (aka the 'Practice Squad') you are sending the message to every possible trade partner out there that he's either an attitude case, incapable of improving, or lacks NFL level talent. I don't think any of those things were true.
Maybe Gruden felt like he needed to send a message to the team by making an example of Jones - you make mistakes and you will not see the field. I get that, but that's an awfully expensive message, not to mention giving up on a pretty talented back who is still very young.
Not a fan of the way they handled Jones. Most good coaches force players to work through issues, they don't just send them packing. The sum total of our approach with Jones is that he now has little trade value, and we've wasted a draft pick.
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