Biography
2009 HIGHLIGHTS: Tenth-year pro, voted by teammates as a defensive captain for ’09, looks to repeat the team tackling title he claimed in ’08 … Has started Games 1-4, and is second on the team with 38 tackles ... Led team Sept. 20 at Green Bay with 12 tackles ... Had six tackles in win Sept. 27 vs. Pittsburgh … Logged personal season-high 13 tackles in win Oct. 4 at Cleveland.
PREVIOUS SEASONS: 2008 - Led team with 15 tackles in each of Games 2-4 -- Sept. 14vs. Tennessee, Sept. 21 at N.Y. Giants and Sept. 28 vs. Cleveland ...Recorded team-leading 13 tackles Oct. 12 at N.Y. Jets, and also had twoQB hurries, one pass defensed and two special-teams tackles ... On Nov.2 vs. Jacksonville, returned INT of David Garrard pass 13 yards,setting up drive for eventual winning TD ... Also vs. Jacksonville,tied for team lead in passes defensed (three) while adding two QBhurries and three tackles ... On Nov. 16 vs. Philadelphia, recordedseven tackles and two passes defensed, including one PD on third downto force a punt ... On Nov. 30 vs. Baltimore, tied for second intackles with 13 and had a forced fumble (Ravens recovered) ... On Dec.14 vs. Washington, tied team’s season high for tackles in a game,logging 17, and had a QB hurry ... On Dec. 21 at Cleveland, tied forteam lead in tackles (15), including team-leading two tackles-for-loss... Led team in tackles (11) Dec. 28 vs. Kansas City, and forced aTyler Thigpen fumble that Jones recovered at Chiefs 34, setting up a FGdrive for 16-0 lead.
2007 - Led team in tackles in five games and tied for lead once ... Tied for team lead in forced fumbles (two) and was only player with two forced fumbles on defense ... In his Bengals debut, Sept 23 vs. Seattle, replaced an injured Caleb Miller and led team in tackles (eight) while tying for special-teams tackles lead (two) ... Had six tackles Oct. 14 at Kansas City, and his forced fumble against WR Jeff Webb was recovered by teammate Frostee Rucker at the Bengals 48 in the third quarter, setting up a FG drive ... Led team in tackles (11) on Nov. 4 at Buffalo ... Took over starting WLB role on Nov. 11 at Baltimore, had four tackles, plus two stops on special teams ... Led team Nov. 18 vs. Arizona with eight tackles ... On Nov. 25 vs. Tennessee, had key play in second quarter when he helped preserve a 7-0 lead with sack-and-strip of quarterback Vince Young, Bengals recovering at their five-yard line ... Had team-leading 13 total stops vs. Tennessee, with 10 solos ... On Dec. 23 vs. Cleveland, his team-leading 13 tackles and 10 solos tied his highs for the season.
2006 - Played 16 games with 13 starts for NFC East champion Philadelphia, logging 93 tackles, and had 10 more tackles while seeing action in both Eagles playoff games (one start) ... Season-high 12 tackles and a shared sack on Oct. 29 vs. Jacksonville ... Had seven tackles in losing effort in Divisional playoff on 1-13-06 at New Orleans.
2005 - Started 16 games for the second time in his career and posted 105 tackles for Eagles ... Logged season-best 11 tackles in two games, Sept. 25 vs. Oakland and Dec. 11 vs. N.Y. Giants ... Led team with eight tackles in win Sept. 18 vs. San Francisco, and intercepted a Tom Rattay pass.
2004 - Signed with Philadelphia as unrestricted free agent on March 9 ... Played every game, with 15 starts, and started two of Eagles' three playoff games, including Super Bowl XXIX vs. New England (two tackles) ... Had season-high 10 tackles Sept. 20 vs. Minnesota.
2003 - Started every game in his final season with Giants ... Posted career highs in tackles (154) and sacks (three) ... Had career game-high of 18 tackles on Sept. 15 vs. Dallas, and intercepted a Quincy Carter pass.
2002 - Broke into Giants starting lineup and finished third on team with 101 tackles ... Season-high 13 tackles on Dec. 1 vs. Tennessee, and recovered a Steve McNair fumble to set up a field goal ... Intercepted a Peyton Manning pass Dec. 22 at Indianapolis ... Had five tackles in first playoff appearance, on 1-5-03 at San Francisco.
2001 - Played all 16 games for Giants and led club in special-teams tackles (16) ... Also had 11 tackles on defense ... Logged first pro INT on Nov. 4 vs. Dallas, picking off a Clint Stoerner pass with 14-yard return, and also had three tackles on defense.
2000 - Drafted by N.Y. Giants in sixth round (177th overall) ... Placed Aug. 20 on Reserve/Injured, due to knee injury (torn ACL) suffered during training camp.
LEADING BY A LOT: Jones not only led the ’08 Bengals with 165tackles, he led by the largest margin of any season tackling leader inMarvin Lewis’s six seasons as head coach. His margin was 53, as LBBrandon Johnson was second at 112. The previous largest margin had been46 by Odell Thurman in 2005 (led 148-102 over LB Brian Simmons). Joneshad five of the top seven Bengals totals for tackles in a game in ’08,logging one of the team’s two 17-tackle efforts and four of the five15-tackle games.
WIDE WORLD OF DHANI: Prior to 2009, Jones had already earned off-field notice as an entrepreneur (Five Star Bow Ties), a musician (saxophone, bass) and media personality (NFL Network and ESPN2). Further, he was known for his taste for exotic travel. But he went a step beyond this past offseason, combining many of his favorite elements as the star of a show, “Dhani Tackles the Globe,” on the Travel Channel. On the show, he immersed himself in learning new sports while also taking in a different nation’s culture. “I like travel and sports, and this is a nice balance between the two,” Jones said, “and all of it has aided me in becoming a better athlete.” Jones’ endeavors included Muay Thai fighting in Thailand, dragon-boat racing in Singapore and rugby in England.
COLLEGE: Earned All-Big Ten honors during each of his three seasons as a starter (1997-99) at Michigan ... Finished second on team as a senior with 81 tackles ... Had six sacks as a sophomore.
PERSONAL: Hometown is Potomac, Md. … Attended Winston Churchill High School, where he was inducted into school Hall of Fame after starring in football, wrestling and track … Active in community service, he was Giants 2002 nominee for NFL Man of the Year, and he received Eagles 2004 Community Hero Award … First name, pronounced “duh-HAH-nee,” means “thinking man” in the Hindi language.
