The Raiders-Chandler Jones saga continues to unfold, and the veteran edge rusher said he has attempted to reach out to the team about why he is not presently permitted to play. Residing on the reserve/non-football illness list, Jones said he has tried to contact GM Dave Ziegler to no avail.
This turbulent month for the Raiders and their 2022 free agency acquisition has now involved Jones indicating he has been hospitalized. The 33-year-old defender wrote Monday night that the Las Vegas Fire Department officials transported him to the hospital “against my will,” according to ESPN.com’s Paul Gutierrez.
Jones social media posts, which have catalyzed his on-field hiatus, indicated he was transferred from the hospital to Seven Hills Behavioral Health Hospital last week. He said between five and seven Las Vegas Fire Department officials came to his home to inform him he was being placed on a “court hold” by the Las Vegas Police Department.
The former Patriots and Cardinals standout also wrote that the staff at the behavioral hospital “tried to force me to take meds & injections.” Jones also indicated the reasoning behind his alleged hospitalization came about because of his online activity.
“I haven’t done anything wrong,” Jones said, via Gutierrez. “The police said people were concerned about me because of my posts online. I’m still confused on what I did wrong. I’m stuck here. I’m very sane. I’m to strong of a person to be mentally broken [sic].”
The Raiders placed Jones on the reserve/NFI list last week, moving him off the 53-man roster. While the team is open to activating Jones if the situation improves, it does not seem likely that will transpire in the near future. Jones also said he called Ziegler at least six times after being hospitalized, adding that he “wondered if [Ziegler] had me put in here, but he never answered.” The Raiders have classified this a private matter.
An incident involving Jones being locked out of the Raiders’ facility in early September, leading to him conducting a workout at a public gym, marked the beginning of his tirade against the team and its top staffers. Jones said he no longer wanted to play for the Raiders as long as Ziegler and Josh McDaniels were in charge. The $17MM-per-year pass rusher also said the Raiders sent a crisis team to his house not long after the initial round of posts. Recently, Jones added to this bizarre dust-up by saying owner Mark Davis is “holding a huge secret.” Raider players and others around the league have expressed concern for Jones’ health. The 11-year veteran has not practiced with the Raiders since the locked-door incident.
Jones signed a three-year, $51MM deal with the Raiders in March 2022. The team is not obligated to pay the former All-Pro while he is on the reserve/NFI list, but an offseason restructure converted most of his salary into a signing bonus. Jones is only tied to a $1.17MM base salary this season.
Just release him. We all know it will come to that point anyway.
I’m fairly certain they won’t transfer you from a hospital to a behavioral hospital without cause. I feel for the guy. He outta put his phone down and focus on getting better.
This reminds me of Antonio Brown. I think the access to social media is an outreach for support. I am willing to bet that Jones has received nothing but blind positive support on social media his entire life.
Kind of makes you wonder what players like Brandon Marshall, Trevor Davis, Aldon Smith, Jovan Belcher, Vince Young, Martavis Bryant, Barret Robbins, Davone Bess, and Junior Seau would have done with constant access to social media.
Almost everyone you listed did have access to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram during their tenure in the NFL. Twitter was founded in 2005, Facebook in 2004, Instagram in 2010.
While I agree that social media definitely provides people with a bit too much of a platform for their random spur of the moment thoughts, lets not jump to conclusions on others because Chandler Jones has been actively posting on socials.
Because it was the Raiders, I have been giving Jones the benefit of the doubt. The longer this carries on, the closer I am to believing this guy has completely lost it. I don’t know his concussion history, but head trauma is my first thought when football players display bizarre behavior.
Can they void his contract? From what I read he seems like an unstable individual. Of course maybe they should have hired someone to run a background check on him before they gave him big money. I would never personally give any player that type of money anyway but if I did I would be very careful and know everything about him.
Wow. You read this article and your primary concern is LV getting out of the contract?
As much hate as he gets, Mark Davis has always been on the players side. He used to live with Cliff Branch and sided with him during his contract dispute with the team. I doubt their biggest concern is money at this point, although they are well within their rights to at least keep it in the back of their minds.
Evidently he’s a little unstable right now. It’s a shame. The best thing for him is getting medical treatment and then go from there.
But I can’t understand why he isn’t happy the team brass hasn’t taken his calls. He said publicly he wouldn’t play for the team until the GM and coach was gone. So why would they pick up the phone?
He’s not helping himself with his social media posts. I truly believe he has had a mental health crisis which causes his stay. He claimed he was injected against his will, but if it is determined he can be retained due to his mental health without his consent he can be injected most likely with a sedative without his consent.
My concern is that we are seeing a rapid advance of CTE. Almost an Antonio Brown situation.
If there was something out of bounds here surely the NFLPA would be filing all kinds of grievances.
Yeah I don’t understand how the NFLPA hasn’t gotten involved by this point. Either the Raiders have done shady things or Jones needs some serious help which you would think the NFLPA would be at the forefront of trying to get one of the their members assistance.
It’s called a Legal 2000 hold in Nevada. Can be used if you’re having a severe mental health crisis, or you pose a threat to yourself or someone else. You’re taken to a mental facility for up to 72 hours. There’s probably alot more to the story that isn’t coming out. You don’t get taken away for social media posts.
Still not sure this isn’t a cleverly orchestrated ruse by Davis.