IRVING, Texas -- Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Thursday that one of the reasons he is willing to take another chance on Adam "Pacman" Jones is because he feels partly to blame for the cornerback's latest trouble.
"Yes, I do take responsibility for the fact that it was my own security that the issue was part of," Jerry Jones said. "Because it was my guy there that created the problem. ... The way that it was supposed to work in my mind, to some degree, we wouldn't have had that problem."
While there was still no confirmation Thursday from the NFL, Jones stood by his announcement from a day earlier that Adam Jones is being reinstated from what commissioner Roger Goodell had called an indefinite suspension.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello didn't respond Thursday to an inquiry for an update on Adam Jones' suspension. A day earlier, Aiello wrote in an e-mail, "When there is a final determination, we will announce it."
The Cowboys owner expects Adam Jones to return to practice Monday and be eligible to play Dec. 7 at Pittsburgh.
Adam Jones was suspended for the entire 2007 season because of multiple incidents while with the Tennessee Titans, then was traded to the Cowboys during the offseason and given another chance by Goodell.
But on Oct. 7, only six weeks after being reinstated, he was involved in an alcohol-related scuffle with one of the bodyguards during a private party at an upscale Dallas hotel. The bodyguard was part of a security detail employed by the team to help keep the player out of trouble.
Goodell suspended Adam Jones indefinitely a week later, saying he'd put a timeframe on it after the cornerback missed at least four games. By the time Jones returns, assuming he's back for the Pittsburgh game, it will be a six-game suspension -- meaning he'll have missed 22 of 28 games since the end of the 2006 season because of suspensions.
Adam Jones completed an alcohol treatment program in the Boston area over the last month, and is establishing an outpatient relationship in the Dallas area to continue the program.
"I completely agreed with the commissioner's decision. I completely agreed with it and certainly have no issues with what the league wanted him to do regarding his testing and evaluation," Jerry Jones said. "I don't have any issues with any of that. The thing that created a problem for him, I feel responsible for."
Jerry Jones said in October that the scuffle resulted from joking banter between the player and the bodyguard that got out of hand but was quickly settled, though police were called. The owner said then he was also concerned that maybe the relationship between the two, who were constantly with each other, had become too friendly.
This time, Adam Jones will be on his own. There will be no more team-employed bodyguards to constantly accompany him.
Jerry Jones said the cornerback is an "outstanding talent" who did everything he was required to do to get his chance to be reinstated and play with the Cowboys after his season-long suspension.
