Paul Jones Misses Practice-May No Longer Be With Penn State Football Team

Reports surfaced on Wednesday morning that redshirt sophomore quarterback-turned-tight end Paul Jones was no longer with the team. What we know at this point is that he did indeed miss practice on Tuesday, but details beside that seem unclear.

During a teleconference on Wednesday afternoon, starting quarterback Matt McGloin told reporters

“I honestly have no idea. I know what you guys know, that he wasn’t at practice on Tuesday. I don’t know where he stands with the coaches or anything like that”

While that could be extended coach speak, it would appear that no concrete decision has been made yet. Unlike when Shawney Kersey left the team, this apparent move hasn’t been immediately reflected on the team roster.

Jones was recently moved to the “F” tight end position and caught his first career pass in a game against Navy. He also received a handoff against Temple in a game last week. The original report from StateCollege.com stated that Paul was upset “after an offensive personnel package that included the former quarterback was removed this week.” To my knowledge, that report has yet to be confirmed anywhere else, but it seems as logical of an explanation as any.

If Jones is indeed gone from Penn State, it would leave Matt McGloin and freshman Steven Bench as the only quarterbacks under scholarship on the roster and would certainly leave the position thin, going forward.

A source told me over the summer that Jones had been contacted by “a couple dozen” other programs when the transfer rules were laid out. He stuck with the team at that time, stating that he’d been through too much with this team to leave now.

UPDATE: BILL O’BRIEN STATED THAT PAUL JONES IS NO LONGER WITH THE TEAM DUE TO PERSONAL REASONS. HE IS NO LONGER ON THE PENN STATE OFFICIAL ROSTER.

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