TJ Jones missed minicamp because of shoulder surgery

During the Detroit Lions' mandatory minicamp earlier this month, rookie wide receiver TJ Jones was one of the players who didn't participate at all. Actually, he wasn't even at the minicamp. He was excused, but the reason behind his absence was unknown at the time.

We now know that Jones wasn't at the minicamp because of minor shoulder surgery. Specifically, he had his right shoulder scoped in order to clean up an injury that originally happened in Notre Dame's bowl game. Jones evidently didn't think the injury would linger on, but the decision was made to simply take care of the issue with minor surgery.

Although Jones missed out on some valuable practice time during the minicamp, the good news is that he is planning on being ready for the start of training camp next month:

Jones said he hopes to be ready for training camp. "I don't plan on missing anything."

— Josh Katzenstein (@jkatzenstein) June 24, 2014

Assuming he's healthy, Jones will be competing with the likes of Ryan Broyles, Jeremy Ross, Kris Durham and Kevin Ogletree for playing time at wide receiver. Perhaps he could contribute in the slot as a rookie, but more than anything, Jones will simply be trying to make the 53-man roster this summer.