| 11 March 2010
I thought it was worth noting Kevin Jones, a Lions 1st round draft pick in 2004, was released by the Chicago Bears Wednesday night. Not that the move was unexpected, as the Bears signed Chester Taylor during their free agent spending orgy last week. But it's a shame to see what was once a promising career not pan out due to injuries.
Lots and lots of injuries.
Jones missed last season after tearing ligaments in his left ankle in the preseason finale against Cleveland. He appeared in 11 games and ran for 109 yards with Chicago in 2008 while trying to come back from foot and knee injuries that plagued him the previous two years in Detroit.
He missed the final three games of the 2006 season and the first two of 2007 because of a foot injury. Then he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee late that season.
Jones was the Lions leading rusher for 4 consecutive seasons, from 2004-07. Though he never could replicate the effectiveness of his excellent rookie season (1133 rushing yards, 4.7 YPC), when Jones looked for all the world to be a fixture for the next several years in the Lions backfield.
Sad to say, this is how Jones is best remembered in Detroit
But Jones becoming the Lions feature back just wasn't meant to be.
Injuries, ineffectiveness and the Lions' all-around awfulness led to Jones being allowed to walk after the '07 season. The Bears picked hm up, the injuries continued to take their toll, and the rest is, as they say, history.
The Kevin Jones story shows just how quickly an NFL career can turn for the worse. A player once thought to be one of the Lions building blocks is now just another name in agate type on the waiver wire.
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