Instead of being subject to a $76,000 fined for missing the entire minicamp session, Jones surprised many by being present for the second day of camp on Wednesday morning.
Sports Illustrated and the NFL Network were the first news outlets to report Jones would be returning to practice on Wednesday. Miami and Jones did not agree to a new contract prior to him returning to the team.
Per sources, Dolphins S Reshad Jones will report to minicamp today. Missed Tuesday and this will be his 1st appearance there this offseason.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) June 15, 2016
After his first practice under first-year head coach Adam Gase, Jones didn’t want to talk about his contract situation.
‘All contract talk I leave that for my agent and the organization,” Jones said. “I am happy to be out here. It’s exciting to be back with my teammates and I am here to play football.”
Gase was also happy to have Jones back with the team.
“When we have our players out there, you get excited – whether they’ve been injured or they haven’t been here,” Gase said. “To get him back out there and DeVante Parker back out there, it’s a good feeling for the coaching staff. To get all of your pieces kind of in place and get these guys rolling in the right direction, as far as what we’re trying to teach.”
After his 2015 season where he led all safeties with 135 tackles along with five interceptions, Jones certainly can’t have been happy about being the NFL’s ninth-highest paid safety regarding average salary.
When he signed his deal in 2013, Jones was among the highest safeties in the league. Now, players like Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith, who is the NFL’s highest paid safety ($51.25 over five years with a $28.578 guaranteed) is making more than Jones.
While he doesn’t have the long-term security, Jones said he isn’t worried about not having the long-term security of a new contract.
“I can’t control that right now,” Jones said. “Like I said, I’ve been playing football all of my life and I was blessed to play a high level. All I can do is come out and continue to play like I have been playing and help this team win football games.”
Miami had to have Jones back at least for training camp in late July. He was the Dolphins best player on defense last year and their best defensive back. Now that he is back, it will be interesting to see how he is used in defensive coordinator Vance Joseph’s defense.
“It’s pretty much the same stuff we’ve been doing,” Jones said about the Dolphins new defense. “Different terminology. I feel good about plugging in my same spot on this defense and helping this team.”
DeVante Parker is Back
Dolphins receiver DeVante Parker participated in practice for the first time in two weeks. The second-year receiver had been dealing with an undisclosed injury that prevented him from being 100 percent.
Parker said Gase was just keeping him out in hopes of having him ready for the start of training camp.
“It is what Coach Gase said: (for) precautionary reasons (he) had me out,” Parker said. “I was clear to play – practice – but he wanted to help me out.”
On his first day back in a little while, Gase said he thought Parker looked good on the field.
“I think he was itching to get out there yesterday,” Gase said. “He did a little more than I thought he was going to do. He kept trying to get in the team periods. We were just trying to be smart to make sure he didn’t get caught on a route where he had a take off or (quarterback) Ryan (Tannehill) checked to something to where now he’s moving down the field and he hadn’t really opened it up yet. So we were just trying to be smart with what was going on.”
After playing in limited duty during the first half of the season, Parker’s production improved in his last eight games of the 2015 season. Parker caught 22 balls for 445 yards and three touchdowns in the Dolphins final eight games. With Rishard Matthews signing with the Tennessee Titans during the offseason, there will be more pressure for the Parker to produce in 2016.
Drake suffered an injury
While performing a special teams drill on Wednesday, rookie running back Kenyan Drake suffered what appeared to be a hamstring injury. Drake did not return to practice after the injury.
After practice, Gase didn’t have any new information on Drake’s injury.
“I’ll have more information once I get back in there,” Gase said. “I saw him briefly and they kind of just said he was out of practice. I haven’t really been updated all the way to what happened.”
Drake, who was selected in the third round by the Dolphins is expected to share carries with Jay Ajayi this season after leading rusher Lamar Miller signed with the Houston Texans during the offseason.
In his four seasons primarily used as a backup at Alabama, Drake rushed for 1495 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Twitter @antwanstaley
