RAIDERS
Jones signs extension
ALAMEDA, Calif. - The Oakland Raiders signed special teams standout Taiwan Jones to a three-year extension on Monday that keeps him under contract through 2017.
Jones still had one year remaining on his rookie deal but was allowed to negotiate an extension for the first time this offseason.
General Manager Reggie McKenzie kept a speedster originally picked by late owner Al Davis who emerged as a top special teams player after struggling to make it as a running back.
Jones is a Bay Area native who is active in the community and very popular with Raiders fans.
“I was excited when they came to me about the extension,” Jones said. “It is definitely a blessing for a local kid to be part of the Raiders turnaround. I’ve been an underdog all my life, so I think it’s very fitting for me to remain here. I’m definitely excited about it.”
Jones was originally selected by Oakland as a running back in the fourth round in 2011 from Eastern Washington after running a 4.33-second 40-yard dash before the draft. That speed and 2,955 yards rushing and 36 touchdowns in two seasons as a running back in college led Davis to select him.
But Jones struggled with injuries and ball security his first two seasons. He had 22 carries for 94 yards and 4 catches for 36 yards and averaged 18.7 yards on 10 kickoff returns as he struggled to find a role in the NFL.
The Raiders moved Jones to cornerback last season but he did not play on defense. Jones made his impact on special teams, where he was credited with 13 unassisted tackles and 2 assists. Oakland heavily promoted Jones for the Pro Bowl but he did not make the team.
Jones also got some time at running back last season because of injuries and finished with 5 carries for 23 yards and 2 catches for 55 yards. DOLPHINS Scandal in past
DAVIE, Fla. - The players’ union representative from the Miami Dolphins said the fallout from their bullying scandal is overblown because every NFL team has a similar locker-room culture.
Long snapper John Denney, a nineyear veteran, said Monday he hadn’t read the investigative report on the Dolphins case. But any harassment among players is nothing new, he said.
“It’s overblown, because this has been my experience with the league my entire career from Day One,” Denney said in a telephone interview. “If something needed to be done, it needed to be done a long time ago. It has never escalated. I never saw conditions worsen. I guess we’re late in getting to the issue.
“I would be comfortable in saying if you put an investigation on any of the 32 teams in the NFL, you’re going to come out with the exact same results.”
In a report released Feb. 14, investigators found guard Richie Incognito and two other offensive linemen engaged in persistent harassment directed at tackle Jonathan Martin, another offensive lineman and an assistant trainer.
Denney, at 35 the Dolphins’ oldest player, said behavior among players was no different last year than when his NFL career began in 2005. Bullying of rookies was common then, too, he said.
“When I came into the league, I assumed I was going to accept it or find a different line of work,” Denney said. “I don’t agree with the lifestyles of some of guys on the team, but if I have an issue, I can address it with individual people. If I felt uncomfortable with a situation, I would address it or find something else to do.”
Denney made his comments following a celebrity golf tournament organized by former Dolphins star Jason Taylor that included several current Miami players.
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill said he’s confident the necessary changes will be made to ensure a healthy locker-room environment. Tannehill made his first public comments regarding the 144-page report.
“I saw a few pages of it,” Tannehill said. “I got overwhelmed by 140-and-whatever pages and skipped it. I’m just glad it’s out. The evaluations and summaries have been made, the points have been taken and now we can move forward. There’s no more being anxious about it coming out. We’ve had the consequences and repercussions, and now we can put it in the past and move forward.”
The Dolphins fired offensive line coach Jim Turner and longtime head athletic trainer Kevin O’Neill for their roles in the scandal, and Coach Joe Philbin pledged to improve the workplace culture.
Sports, Pages 20 on 02/25/2014