![\"Dawand](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-1772824426-e1775908684238.jpg\")
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Dawand Jones #79 of the Cleveland Browns <\/p>\n
Earlier this week, as the Cleveland Browns<\/a> gathered for their first meetings of the offseason program under new head coach Todd Monken, oft-injured left tackle Dawand Jones<\/a> was shuffling into one of the linemen meetings. Jones suffered a gruesome injury in Week 3 against the Packers<\/a> last year, a torn LCL with a hamstring avulsion that knocked him out for the season, marking three straight times in his three-year career his season had been cut short by injury.<\/p>\n But Monken, since taking the Browns job in February, had noticed that Jones has been at the team facility in Barea, working to rehab from his injury<\/a> and, most important, seeking to drop weight from the 374-pounds frame he had last year.<\/p>\n And Monken wanted to let Jones, a left tackle, know that he was aware of the work he\u2019d been doing. He told Jones: \u201cI appreciate you being here all offseason. Just seeing your work and what you\u2019ve done. That doesn\u2019t go unnoticed.\u201d<\/p>\n Dawand Jones \u2018Grinding All Offseason\u2019<\/p>\n Jones relayed that story to the Browns in-house podcast<\/a> this week, and revealed that he has, indeed, been dropping weight even as he seeks to add more muscle. It\u2019s not easy, he said. But he has been committed.<\/p>\n Said Jones: \u201cI am doing good. Just been grinding all offseason. Been here, I have been at the facility every day, just trying to lose weight and to be better for next season.\u201d<\/p>\n As for where he is now, Jones said, \u201cI\u2019m at 360, 359, I\u2019m in that range. I just have to keep it there. I want to finish this summer at 350, 355. We\u2019re in that range. That\u2019s not far off, and I just want to shoot for that range. It\u2019s hard to maintain it. You get there and it\u2019s like\u2013eh. I know I\u2019ve got a lot of expectations. I\u2019ve just want to live up to it.\u201d<\/p>\n Browns Have Hole at LT<\/p>\n Both Monken and GM Andrew Berry have said that while the team intends to bulk up at left tackle, presumably in the draft, they also plan to let Jones be a factor in manning the position.\u00a0\u00a0Jones is not exactly a reliable option, with just 24 healthy games in three seasons on his resume, but it should be pointed out that he is not the type to let minor injuries keep him out.<\/p>\n He has had terrible luck with significant injuries\u2013the 2025 surgeries, plus surgeries on his MCL and a broken ankle\/fibula.<\/p>\n Said Jones: \u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate. I just chalk it up to a part of the game. It happens, and you just gotta move on, put your head down and don\u2019t get into a deep hole because once you do that, you can\u2019t really even go back. I just try to take it one day at a time, that\u2019s all I can do. That\u2019s what my mom tells me and my family tells me because you know, I feel like I let them down. I was hurt and they were like, \u2018You didn\u2019t let us down.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Dawand Jones Wants to \u2018Compete\u2019 for Browns Job<\/p>\n Now, perhaps, Jones is ready to win the Browns job back next season. A fourth-round pick in 2023, Jones started nine games as rookie and was clearly on target to at least get a chance to be one of the Browns\u2019 tackles of the future. If the team has any confidence he can win the job this season, it could put less pressure on Berry to pick a left tackle in the draft.<\/p>\n At the very least, Jones wants a chance. \u201cI just want to play. I want to compete,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tSean Deveney<\/a> is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Browns\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Dawand Jones #79 of the Cleveland Browns Earlier this week, as the Cleveland Browns gathered for their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":863957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2054],"tags":[86,85,54,2337,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-863956","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cleveland-browns","8":"tag-browns","9":"tag-cleveland","10":"tag-cleveland-browns","11":"tag-clevelandbrowns","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116386204573278197","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=863956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}