Adam Jones hasn’t lost his touch, ladies and gentlemen. The Cincinnati Bengals cornerback wasted no time getting into a verbal altercation with a member of the media Monday during his first interview session at the start of team offseason activities.
As you may or may not know, Jones had felony charges against him dropped this offseason stemming from an incident in which he allegedly spit on a jailhouse nurse. He’s still being charged with misdemeanor charges of assault, disorderly conduct and obstructing official business, though he is pleading not guilty.
Bengals owner Mike Brown has steadfastly refused to take any action against Jones in the wake of this latest (of many) off-field incidents, admitting he might be “overly tolerant” in the process. Based on Monday’s interaction with a reporter who was asking an innocent enough question, Brown definitely is.
The cornerback opened up his interaction with Cincinnati media members with a statement in which he said he did not want to answer questions revolving around the case, which is still pending, per Paul Dehner Jr. of Cincinnati.com.
However, he was asked how important it was to be with his team, to which he had no issue responding:
“Words can’t express my gratitude and feelings for this organization, Mr. Brown, coach Lewis, my teammates, the city of Cincinnati,” Jones said. “This is home for me. I am very eager to be here. I don’t take it for granted. I love playing football. I love helping the guys out and working together. I’m more than happy.”
Then Fox 19’s Joe Danneman asked him another question a bit later that seemed nearly as innocuous as the one above.
“I know you said you were thankful for the organization, is there anything you have to show to fans, have to prove to the fans for them to welcome you back since there were a lot of people upset with the way things went down in the offseason for you?”
At this point, Jones unloaded on Danneman, per Dehner Jr., kicking him out of the interview and banning him from asking another question the rest of the season.
“Didn’t I just tell you don’t ask me that?” Jones said. “You out the (interview), turn around, go back, go back that way, see you. Next question.”
Dehner Jr. notes reporters began to disperse” and that “the yelling from Jones grew louder and more combative. Jones walked past the reporter twice after that and continued to yell and curse at him.”
In the end, head coach Marvin Lewis had to come into the locker room and calm Jones down.