#16 Byron Jones looks over to the UConn Huskies sideline for a play call against the Stony Brook Seawolves at Rentschler Field on September 6, 2013.
New Britain, CT’s Byron Jones‘ UConn career wasn’t supposed to end like this. It was to finish up with him and his UConn Huskies football teammates walking off the field with a win in a bowl game.
While the latter won’t most likely happen anyways, Thursday night in Greenville, NC will be the last time Jones will have played in a college football game.
Jones, one of four UConn captains, got some bad news on Friday as the shoulder injury he was nursing and reaggravated during the loss to East Carolina Thursday night, will require season ending surgery as announced by UConn head coach Bob Diaco during his postgame teleconference on Friday.
“Byron was playing through a small issue there,” Diaco said. “That, then exacerbated himself last night (Thursday) to the point that it needs to be addressed. If it doesn’t get addressed it will be something else. Right now, an isolated thing that needs to be fixed.”
The good news part is that this in no way will affect him as he goes forward with his NFL dream once the shoulder heals.
“He’s very highly thought of,” Diaco said. “Executives that are in the building think highly of him. This will help him from a time frame standpoint.”
“He will be full speed, not good as new, better than new when he has a time to show his wears.”
Jones is projected to be drafted around the third or fourth round in the 2015 NFL Draft. He has UConn’s only two interceptions of the season, one of which came during Thursday night’s game. The other was a 70 yard interception returned for a touchdown against South Florida in September.
NOTES: UConn did get some good news on the injury front as WR Geremy Davis, who missed the second half, is day-to-day with an ankle sprain. RB Arkeel Newsome was cleared to play in Thursday night’s game after suffering a non-football related lower leg injury. He had not practiced all week which is why he saw only one series in the game. LB Junior Joseph didn’t make the trip to Greenville, NC so that he could tend to some academic stuff back in Storrs.
