Commanders Designate CB Jonathan Jones To Return From IR

The Commanders are looking to return some significant depth to their secondary soon after designating veteran cornerback Jonathan Jones to return from injured reserve today, per ESPN’s John Keim. This gives Jones three weeks to either work his way back to the active roster or remain on IR for the remainder of the season.

After a nine-year start to his career in New England, Jones signed a one-year deal to come to Washington as a free agent. Always a strong contributor, Jones didn’t earn a full-time starting role with the Patriots until his seventh season of NFL play, which oddly enough came on the heels of a season in which he missed all but six games with a shoulder injury. He served as a full-time starter for three years in New England before the team allowed him to walk after a middling year of play last season.

The Commanders brought Jones in as part of a two-pronged approach at replacing Benjamin St-Juste and Emmanuel Forbes and upgrade the secondary. The other part of that approach came out of the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Ole Miss rookie Trey Amos ended up beating out Jones for the starting job across from Marshon Lattimore as second-year corner Mike Sainristil shifted inside to nickelback.

Jones was playing some of the lowest snap shares since his rookie campaign in New England to open the season, and any momentum building him towards a bigger workload went out the window when the team placed him on IR because of a hamstring injury. Washington’s newish-look secondary has struggled thus far in the season, currently ranking as the 24th-best pass defense in the NFL. If Jones can get back to the field, he may find a larger snap share waiting for him as the team does what it can to slow down opponents’ passing games.

The Commanders may also be looking to add a name at wide receiver as Noah Brown, Terry McLaurin, and Deebo Samuel all deal with their injuries. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, former Titans first-round wide receiver Treylon Burks will visit Washington tomorrow. Burks is expected to entertain interest from several teams, but it looks like the Commanders will be his second visit after he started off in Denver today.