Donald Jones was one of those buzz names last season, a relative unknown pegged as an under-the-radar difference-maker for the Buffalo Bills.
It didn't work out that way for the wide receiver, who suffered through an injury-plagued season that eventually ended on injured reserve. David Nelson neatly slid into Jones' role as No. 2 wide receiver opposite Stevie Johnson, but Jones is determined to work his way back up the depth chart this summer.
"You start to see things like, 'They need to draft a receiver.' You see all of those things," Jones said, according to The Buffalo News. "As a man, as a competitor, I'm out to prove everybody wrong. It definitely fuels me."
Nelson believes Jones is "finding his niche" and says his teammate is having "an amazing camp."
"A lot of people don't know this, and he'll probably get mad at me for telling you this, but last year when he got hurt, he was in tears," Nelson said. "It was because he had worked so hard and put so much effort into it.
"He had been named that No. 2 guy. He was an outside receiver, everything that he had wanted was finally coming to fruition and he got hurt."
Bills coach Chan Gailey said Jones is "probably a little bit ahead of everybody at this point" in his race to regain the No. 2 job.
"In my eyes, I am the No. 2 receiver," Jones said. "I'll conduct myself in that manner."
It sounds like Jones will have another chance to have a big role in Buffalo's game plan. We'll have to find out if he rewards his team's patience.
