Was Dawand Jones more excited for his rookie season in the NFL or the Dizzy Runs Pro-Am at his home basketball court Tuesday night at Ben Davis?
The 6-8, 375-pound Cleveland Browns’ offensive tackle laughed at the question, but his love for basketball is nothing to joke about. That he was able to take the court at Ben Davis, where he was an Indiana All-Star in 2019, and play alongside former high school teammate Aaron Henry and in front of former Ben Davis football star and Cincinnati Bengals RB Chris Evans made it even more special.
“It was definitely important to me to see the community come back out and see me play, see Chris and see Aaron,” Jones said. “There’s a bunch of guys who love being here and love coming back home.”
Just like old times for Dawand Jones pic.twitter.com/JRrP9Ku5he
— Kyle Neddenriep (@KyleNeddenriep) July 10, 2024
Jones estimates he is “85 to 90%” physically coming off MCL surgery in mid-December on his right knee. Coming into his rookie season with the Browns, Jones, a fourth-round pick out of Ohio State, was expected to ease into playing time behind starter Jack Conklin. Those plans changed quickly when Conklin, the Browns’ starting right tackle, tore his ACL in Week 1 and was lost for the season.
In his first start, Jones was matched with T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He limited Watt to no sacks and four hurries. Jones ended up playing in 11 games, starting nine, and earned All-Rookie honors from the Pro Football Writers of America. According to Pro Football Focus, Jones allowed just three sacks and 15 quarterback hurries in 712 snaps and committed only two penalties.
Jones suffered the knee injury in practice and was placed on injured reserve Dec. 12. Despite the injury, Jones’ season was highly successful on a playoff team.
“I’ve seen Dawand make great strides on and off the field,” Browns’ coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters after Jones’ injury. “And I think we have a really great (offensive line) room. That offensive line room, obviously, with the coaches, with the players, that’s a room that is great for a young player to be in to see how you operate and how you prepare, how you work. And I thought he got better as the season went on. So, I’m disappointed for him, but he played well in a lot of these games and he’s a young player I think will continue to get better.”
Jones said he “tried not to think about” the positive accolades until after the season.
“I feel like, as a rookie, I did a solid job,” Jones said. “I try not to give myself too much credit. But I feel like I did pretty well for a rookie.”
Playing at a program like Ohio State, where he was a two-time All-Big Ten selection and first-team All-American as a junior in 2022, helped prepare Jones for the NFL. But there were a few “Oh wow” moments in his rookie season.
“There were a lot of ‘fast’ moments,” Jones said. “A lot of guys are twitchy in the league. A lot of guys are quick off the ball. In college, a lot of guys don’t know how to work. Everybody in the NFL works. So, when it’s the next guy coming in, he’s just as fast as the last guy.”
The discourse around Jones going into his second NFL season — other than how he returns from the knee injury — is how he can improve as a run blocker. His strength, according to the metrics, is his ability to move his feet and pass block.
“I kind of struggled (at run blocking) being a rookie,” he said. “Sometimes it was not knowing the direction of where to go. But it comes with being a rookie, and I feel like my program has really helped me figuring out the defense and offense as well. I set goals and one of my first goals was to be All-Rookie. The next goal is to be a Pro Bowler. It’s baby steps. I wanted to make sure I start with a small goal and achieve it.”
Jones, 22, is a familiar face around Ben Davis, even in the years following his graduation from high school. To say he is a basketball fanatic is putting it mildly. He was able to play an organized game with Henry, his former high school teammate, for the first time since Ben Davis lost in overtime in the regional at the end of the 2018 season to Warren Central and Jones’ current teammate with the Browns, wide receiver David Bell.
“We were still running our plays from high school,” Jones said of Henry, who played professionally last season in Japan and plans to return for the upcoming season. “Aaron’s game has evolved a lot. He’s shooting step-backs and shots he really wasn’t doing in high school.”
Jones said he still plays basketball “every Wednesday” and his trainers with the Browns encourage him to play to break down the scar tissue on his knee. Every once in a while, Jones’ basketball highlight videos from high school go viral on social media.
“It’s nothing I can control,” Jones said with a laugh. “Some people don’t even know I can dunk a basketball. It’s crazy. You think I’m 6-8 for nothing? I just take it as a compliment or sometimes take it as something I need to work on.”
Jones, or “Big Thanos” as he sometimes known, made a couple of nice moves in Tuesday night’s game and engaged in a little friendly trash talk. He said as important as playing in the game was being back in the school.
“I think people talk about my name a lot, so I want kids to see me, too,” Jones said. “Random people will come up to me and kids will come up and shake my hand and say, ‘What’s up, Dawand?’ like they knew me forever. It’s all love to me.”
