Gamble better pay off for Jones, Cowboys

by Alex Marvez

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We'll see.

At least through the first day of training camp, Jones hasn't botched what will likely be his final chance to play in the NFL. Jones is allowed to practice with the Cowboys and appear in preseason games while awaiting full reinstatement from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

"If I don't get in trouble," Jones said afterward, "There's no way (Goodell) can say no."

Now in the 15th month of his suspension, Jones was proud of his first preseason practice since 2006. Working with the second-string defense, Jones closed quickly to bat down a sideline pass during a team drill and says he had a "couple of good one-on-ones" covering wide receivers. Jones showed as much flare as his football attire, which included a white do-rag under his helmet and blue socks he used as leg warmers.

"I just did my job, put it like that," he said.

At this time last year, Jones' "job" was with a wrestling promotion hoping to exploit the attention given his infamous off-field incidents. Dressed in an outfit celebrating the "Pacman" nickname he now wishes to drop, Jones was eventually cajoled into throwing money into the air to distract a referee in his faux role as a manager.

By "making it rain," Jones did more than mock his involvement in a Las Vegas strip-club shooting that has left one person paralyzed. Jones also drew Goodell's ire, which contributed to his suspension lasting throughout the 2007 season.

Such knuckleheaded moves are par for the course with Jones, whose multiple arrests and nighttime shenanigans have derailed the career of someone Cowboys owner Jerry Jones believes "can be one of the most talented people in sports, much less just the NFL." This potential is the reason why Dallas was willing to gamble on a player with enough baggage to fill Jerry Jones' trademark Cowboys bus.

Dallas head coach Wade Phillips already is counting on Adam Jones being his punt returner, the likely nickel cornerback — if not a starter — and maybe even an offensive threat because "he's got a unique running talent." Phillips even compared Jones' skills to those of Deion Sanders, the retired Cowboys cornerback whose play-making ability will land him in the Hall of Fame.

Sanders and Michael Irvin are two of the former Dallas players who have worked closely with Jones to make better decisions outside team headquarters. The Cowboys also have a strong player support staff that has experienced success rehabilitating other troubled players like defensive tackle Terry "Tank" Johnson.

"I'm definitely a lot smarter, you know?" Jones said when asked the differences from the last time he was in an NFL training camp. "Maturity, choosing the right places at the right time, and how and what to do off the field."

Jerry Jones beamed when talking about the progress his namesake has made since being acquired in April from Tennessee for two draft choices.

"I'm very proud," Jerry Jones said. "I think he's going to be an example that if you work and get your things together, good things can happen to you."

Yet for a moment Friday, a flash of the old "Pacman" returned. It was enough to raise red flags about whether Jones has truly changed. If nothing else, it's evident the 24-year-old Jones still isn't savvy enough to avoid saying things that further soil his image.

Asked how different the Cowboys' training camp is from Tennessee's, Jones said, "I don't mean to say anything bad about Tennessee, but I don't never want to go back there. It sucks."

The same might be said of Jones if he blows this opportunity as well.