Walter Jones may be out for the season, but the veteran left tackle doesn’t view today as the beginning of his retirement.
“My next step is to continue to keep working and try to get back,” he said. “I still want to play this game, I like the competition, I still want to go out there and compete with the guys. So that’s my No. 1 goal right now is to continue to keep doing what I’ve got to do to get back on the field next year.”
And for those who wonder why a nine-time Pro Bowler would bother trying to play next season when he has accomplished so much, Jones has a simple answer.
“Because this is what I love,” he said. “It’s a game that I have put so much pride in and wanted to be the best at. So I still want to come out and do my job and play this game.”
Jones said the pain in his knee simply never went away, and after trying to play though it for a while earlier this season, he finally had to shut it down.
“A lot of times I was just being quiet about the pain because your No. 1 focus is trying to get back on the football field, and that’s where I should have said something, but I figured, ‘Well it’s going to get better, I can fight this. I’ve played with pain before, I can get through this,’” he said. “But the pain never did subside, so I decided to say something and say that something still is not right.”
Jones last played on Thanksgiving Day in Dallas last season, and played below his usual level while trying to play through his knee injury. He said the memory of that game carried over into his attempt at coming back this season.
“I never did feel comfortable enough to put myself out there on the football field,” he said. “After last year’s game, that was a tough situation for me, so I never did want to go out there feeling uncomfortable about something. So I said I’m not going to step on that football field until I feel comfortable about this knee.”
That won’t happen this year, but Jones isn’t ready to give up on his football career yet.
“I still want to play, and hopefully next year will be a strong year for me, and that’s my approach,” he said.
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