FOXBORO, NE – On Sunday, New England Patriots’ pro-bowl defensive end Chandler Jones showed up at the Foxborough Police Department at 7:42 a.m. with a “medical emergency” in what turns out to be a weird and ‘something’s not right here’ type of story. After being evaluated by five officers who described him later as a “confused party”, he was transported to nearby Norwood Hospital shortly after 8 a.m., then released later that day. The story broke only yesterday by the Boston Herald.
Foxborough police initially denied that they had any dealings with Jones. However, the Boston Herald had obtained dispatch call records, which were later modified by someone within the department. According to Foxborough Police Chief Edward O’Leary, the records were altered to remove medical information, and what he meant when he said that they had no dealings with Jones was that it was a medical matter, not a police matter.
The Patriots issued a statement on Tuesday. They admitted that Jones was taken to the hospital, but reassured fans that he reported to work on Monday and participated in all team activities.
So what the hell happened to Chandler Jones?
According to my source, Chandler walked into police station parking lot all jammed up shirtless and shoeless asking for help from police
— Lou Merloni (@LouMerloni) January 13, 2016
Well, according to a police source who spoke to Chris Curtis of Boston sports radio station WEEI, Jones’ trip to the hospital was at least partially do to pills. Meanwhile, audio of the police dispatch obtained by Heavy has the officer who went to Jones’ house saying he was “definitely involved with Class D delta before this happened.” And class D drugs include marijuana, phenobarbital (sometimes used for sleep and anxiety), and isobutyl nitrite, which is found in “poppers” often taken recreationally before sex.
WEEI’s Lou Merloni also presented a more detailed account of Chandler’s arrival at the police station:
Initially WEEI’s report claimed that Chandler Jones’ overdose occurred at the home of Patriots superstar tight end Rob Gronkowski. However, that detail was later removed.
Here’s the audio of the dispatch recording of when Jones found police:
And the proceeding fire dispatch audio:
As for what this will mean for Jones and the Patriots going forward, that will depend on what pills the Patriots’ sack leader was popping. If they are deemed to be “performance enhancing” he’ll be looking at a suspension. However, if this is just a case of substance abuse, and if it’s not a legal matter—for all we know Jones could have overdosed on over-the-counter sex pills—Jones would simply have to enter the NFL’s substance abuse program.
Though strange, the incident was apparently not too serious. He took part in Patriots practice the next day but was not available in the locker room as of today for media availability. The Patriots’ top pass rusher is expected to start and play in New England’s divisional playoff game against the Chiefs in Foxboro this Saturday.
