9. Art Jones, Defensive Lineman
The 7-year veteran already figured to be a storyline, as he continues to rehabilitate from a season-ending ankle injury suffered during last year’s preseason. However, to add insult to Art Jones‘ injury, he’s now facing a 4-game suspension for violating the league’s policy on performance enhancing drugs.
While Jones will be banned from the Colts first 4 regular season games, he’s theoretically still eligible to participate in the team’s training camp and preseason games:
Like Robert Mathis in '14, Art Jones is eligible for training camp/preseason games. Suspension starts Week 1. If he's on the team, that is.
— Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) July 22, 2016
How Jones handles this controversy should be something to watch in training camp, as to my knowledge, the 30 year old veteran defensive lineman has yet to publicly address his suspension by issuing any sort of statement.
The Colts don’t figure to save much cap space by releasing Jones this offseason; however, the team will definitely want to see progress on Jones’ ankle, as well as some sort of team apology or explanation.
It’s worth noting that head coach Chuck Pagano was hopeful that Jones would be able to practice during this year’s training camp at some point, but Jones’ ongoing ankle rehabilitation and looming suspension certainly cloud his Colts future.