An integral part of Maryland football’s wide receiving corps, junior Jeshaun Jones once again will look to overcome adversity.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound wideout suffered his second season-ending injury in the last three seasons against then-No. 7 Ohio State Oct. 9. Known for his speed and athleticism in the open field, he had developed into one of the Terps’ key playmakers offensively.
During his freshman season in 2018, Jones burst on to the scene with a passing, rushing and receiving touchdown on his first three collegiate touches against No. 23 Texas. He became the first freshman with a rushing, passing, and receiving touchdown in the same game since Marcus Mariota in 2012 and was the first Terp to accomplish the feat since 1980.
Jones played in all 12 games in 2018 with eight total touchdowns (five receiving, two rushing and one passing). His five receiving touchdowns were the most for a freshman since Stefon Diggs in 2012.
Seemingly poised for a standout sophomore season, Jones tore his ACL during the preseason. Although he wasn’t playing, Jones still spent time in the film room and at practice with his teammates studying different coverages and route concepts.
“The toughest thing was not having what I loved to do,” Jones said last month regarding the first injury. “I love the game of football and I never really had anything that [took] me away from the game of football for an entire year. It was tough being in Maryland away from my mom. It’s always been me and her.”
While the injury posed a physical challenge, the mental aspect of a serious knee injury can often be more challenging. Jones’ mother, Nicole Baran, helped him in that part of the recovery process by coming to Maryland for the team’s games even though he wasn’t playing.
“When you’ve been that big of a superstar for that long and you’ve always been the top guy and then you get hurt, it’s hard to reassess your value as a person when you don’t have football anymore,” Baran said before her son got hurt again. “I think for a minute there he got into a dark place, where it was like, ‘Who am I when I’m not playing football?’ I was just there to kind of re-center him and just remind him that you’re good and you’ll get through this.”
After missing the entire 2019 season, Jones returned for the Terps in the 2020 season opener against Northwestern with his mother in attendance. He finished the abbreviated five-game season with 11 receptions for 181 yards, highlighted by a 76-yard touchdown reception against Minnesota.
With a conventional offseason and a full schedule, Jones and the Terps’ wide receiver unit entered the 2021 season with plenty of optimism. That excitement swelled as Maryland started the season 4-0 with Taulia Tagovailoa and the offense firing on all cylinders.
The Terps’ offense and receiving corps as a whole was dealt a significant blow when senior Dontay Demus suffered a season-ending knee injury against then-No. 5 Iowa on Oct. 1. As one of the veterans and most explosive players in the receiving room, Jones was expected to be increasingly involved in the offense after Demus’ injury.
However, Jones landed awkwardly after a reception the following week against then-No. 7 Ohio State. He immediately grabbed his lower leg and was carted off the field. Head coach Michael Locksley later announced that Jones suffered a season-ending injury, delivering another devastating blow to the Terps’ wide receiver unit.
Now, Jones is in the early stages of rehabbing his second significant leg injury that prematurely ended another season. Once again, Jones will look to attack both the mental and physical challenges of the rehab process. Jones is one of several Terps who have suffered season-ending injuries, and Locksley says those players still remain heavily involved with the team.
“We have a group that meets with our injured players and one of the things that we try to do with our injured players is incorporate them as coaches,” Locksley said during his media availability Oct. 28. “I think the big piece of it is keeping them involved with your team. Our injured players, if you notice, they come out to practice and they’re usually dressed like a normal practice even if they can’t go.
“Sometimes they have to go in and lift or do some rehab stuff. Then we bring them back out as much as we can, to have them around instead of shoving them in a closet where nobody knows where they are and they just disappear. I think it’s important to keep them around their peers and around our program.”
Beyond the players’ involvement with the team, an essential part of their recovery process focuses on positivity, another area that Locksley emphasizes with his players. The coach has given similar advice to his daughter Kori, a member of Maryland women’s soccer team. She underwent two ACL surgeries in the past.
“I think the mindset and the mental approach of knowing that it’s not final,” Locksley said. “Like, ‘OK, you lost this opportunity, but now let’s figure out how to get you back healthy and stronger than ever to come back and have a chance to be successful.'”
That’s the focus for Jones now as he continues to progress throughout the rehab process before the 2022 season begins.
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