Washington Huskies cornerback Sidney Jones says he’s preparing to play by September after tearing his Achilles tendon in pre-draft workouts.
When Sidney Jones went down while running drills during his pro day, it was clear he’d suffered a serious injury. Fortunately, Jones is just as serious about the rehab and recovery from tearing his Achilles tendon. What was initially believed to be an unfortunate turn that could force Jones out of his entire rookie season has now become a timeline for an incredible comeback.
Jones recently told Pro Football Talk Live that he expects to return to playing by September, and to even be running in practice by June. If the timeline is more than just optimism, that means Jones could be settling into a team’s secondary by Week 4 or even earlier.
Jones was expected to be a first round pick when mock drafts were being produced before his injury, but the torn Achilles dropped that to the third round or so. However, the news that he could be ready that soon could vault him up in Day 2 and even make him an outside possibility near the bottom of round one if a franchise thought he was that much better than his healthier peers.
It’s likely that most teams would still vie for the option that’s ready if they are satisfied with the talents of both players, but it will be interesting to see if a team like the Kansas City Chiefs grab Jones and let him rehab at his own pace, even if it is a quick one, to land their next shutdown corner. The Chiefs are likely to open up the competition across from Marcus Peters on the outside, so who better to potentially take that spot than a corner who is often compared to Peters himself.
Jones had 8 career interceptions in three seasons with Washington. He also had 21 passes defended in his career.