While injuries plagued skilled position athletes during the Browns’ 2023 regular season, other positions were also decimated by the injury bug.
Cleveland had three offensive tackles go down with season-ending knee injuries as veteran Jack Conkin, fifth-year athlete Jedrick Wills, and then-rookie Dawand Jones all succumbed to injuries last year.
One of those three tackles made his way onto the practice field for the first time since the injury.
Analyst Lance Reisland shared a video on Twitter of Jones making his return to the voluntary OTA practice for the Browns.
In the video, Jones is seen pushing off from his stance and using his right hand to drive the mock defender to the left.
Reisland praised Jones’ performance in the drill, noting he did a “great job stepping inside, running his feet, and using his massive reach.”
Jones was lost to injury during a practice before the Browns’ Week 14 game against the Jaguars in December 2023.
He was ruled out for that contest before the team revealed later he would require season-ending knee surgery.
Jones started during the team’s Week 2 contest after Conklin suffered his own knee injury the previous week.
As a rookie, Jones started in nine of the team’s next 11 games before his injury.
Jones was a fourth-round selection by the Browns in the 2023 NFL Draft.
At Ohio State, the 6-foot-8 tackle earned 27 starts in the 41 games he participated in as a Buckeye.
Jones played a season at the right guard position before being switched to the tackle position during the 2022 season.
