]A Jets Lineman Learns a Lesson the Hard Way By KAREN CROUSE Published: August 21, 2007 HEMPSTEAD, N.Y., Aug. 20 ? Adrian Jones was complimented on his driving the other day, his aggressiveness during a blocking drill earning praise from the Jets? offensive line coach, Tony Wise. A former starter turned reserve, Jones finds himself happily operating in the shadows, perfectly content to be neither the most famous Mr. Jones on the team (that would be running back Thomas Jones) nor the Jets? most notorious offensive lineman (that would be the disgruntled tackle Pete Kendall). It was a different story last season when Jones, a 6-foot-5 tackle, caused one of the few waves to rock Coach Eric Mangini?s tight ship in his first season with the Jets. Two days after Thanksgiving, a couple of hours before dawn on the Saturday before the Jets? home game against the Houston Texans, Jones was arrested and charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. His blood-alcohol level during a preliminary field sobriety test, according to published reports, was 0.22, more than twice the legal limit. His driver?s license was suspended until December of this year after he refused a blood-alcohol test at central testing. That is why his driving these days ends when practice does. Starting Wednesday when the Jets break training camp, Jones will have to catch a ride home with a teammate or call his wife or a car service to come get him, a daily reminder of a night he would like to forget. ?A bad night,? Jones said Monday after the first of two practices. ?It was a mistake that I definitely learned from and I?m trying my best to get over but not forget.? Jones, who had appeared in 8 of the first 10 games in 2006, was placed on the inactive roster for the Texans game. He sat for four more games before suiting up for the season finale against the Oakland Raiders and the first-round playoff loss to the New England Patriots. He was fined $20,000 by the team and monitored by the National Football League as a first-time offender of the league?s substance abuse policy. ?I definitely felt like I disappointed my team and let my teammates down, but the biggest thing was letting myself down,? Jones said. ?I?ve always tried to live my life correctly. Especially in the N.F.L. or any other sports or any other celebrity-type things, your margin of error is very slim.? Jones, who is backing up D?Brickashaw Ferguson at left tackle after losing his starting job at right tackle to Anthony Clement last season, added: ?I take it as a blessing in disguise as far as the things that could have happened. Things could have been a lot worse. I learned from it, about just being more responsible.? In the locker room, the Jets rallied around the soft-spoken Jones, shooing away reporters who continued to quiz him about the incident after he acknowledged his mistake and apologized. ?What happened should not reflect on his character,? offensive lineman Brandon Moore said. ?He?s not a jerk or anything like that. He just had a few drinks.? It was an uneasy off-season for Jones, who worried that he would be released by the Jets because of his arrest. Mangini, after all, has instituted a code of conduct so strict that players are fined for speaking out of turn to reporters. ?I didn?t know exactly where my future was going to go, as far as with the Jets, with football, whatever,? Jones said. Mangini stuck with Jones because he said he believed as strongly in redemption as he did in rules. ?Obviously, personal conduct is very important to us,? Mangini said, adding: ?People make mistakes. How you handle those mistakes, how you learn from those mistakes, is also important. I think he?s done a really good job handling that situation and moving forward.? Jones?s fianc?e at the time, Natasha, was out of town when he was arrested. The phone call he placed to break the news to her, he said, was harder than the one he had to make to the Jets. ?She was definitely disappointed,? Jones said. ?But she thought we could definitely get over it together.? They were married, as planned, on July 7. Jones said he still goes out, but his habits have changed. ?Usually whenever I go to a club, I might get a Sprite or a club soda,? he said. ?I really don?t have an urge to drink anymore. That?s why I consider what happened a blessing in disguise. Because you never know what the next drink might do to you.? EXTRA POINTS The Jets held their last scheduled day of double practices before breaking camp on Wednesday. Coach Eric Mangini has worked his players long and hard, and the question came up: Could it be that mental fatigue was a factor in their sloppy play on Friday against the Minnesota Vikings, and again during their Monday morning practice? ?Well, I think that everybody around the league right now is dealing with the same issue,? Mangini said. ... The rookie receiver Chansi Stuckey sustained an injury to his right leg in the first hour of practice and spent the rest of the session working on the hand bike. He wore a right knee brace in the afternoon.
