Jonas Gray

{{Short description|American football player (born 1990)}}

{{Use American English|date=April 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = Jonas Gray

| image = Jonas_L-_Gray_2013-08-14_19-18.jpg

| caption = Gray in 2013

| current_team =

| number = 29, 34, 35

| position = Running back

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1990|6|27}}

| birth_place = Pontiac, Michigan, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height_ft = 5

| height_in = 9

| weight_lbs = 223

| high_school = Detroit Country Day School
(Beverly Hills, Michigan)

| college = Notre Dame (2008–2011)

| undraftedyear = 2012

| pastteams =

| status =

| highlights =

| statweek =

| statseason =

| statlabel1 = Rushing attempts

| statvalue1 = 134

| statlabel2 = Rushing yards

| statvalue2 = 588

| statlabel3 = Rushing touchdowns

| statvalue3 = 5

| statlabel4 = Receptions

| statvalue4 = 8

| statlabel5 = Receiving yards

| statvalue5 = 83

}}

Jonas Gray (born June 27, 1990) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He was signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2012 and also played for the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots. Gray is best known for his performance with the Patriots in a 2014 game against the Indianapolis Colts.

Early life

From Pontiac, Michigan, Gray went to high school at Detroit Country Day.{{cite web|title=Jonas Gray Profile|url=http://www.und.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/gray_jonas00.html|access-date=April 28, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015091823/http://www.und.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/gray_jonas00.html|archive-date=October 15, 2014|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Notre Dame Cumulative Season Statistics|url=http://www.und.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2011-2012/teamcume.html#TEAM.IND|access-date=April 29, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629181554/http://www.und.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2011-2012/teamcume.html#TEAM.IND|archive-date=June 29, 2017|url-status=dead}} He helped lead Detroit Country Day to an 11–3 record as a senior and an appearance in the state championship. He rushed for 305 yards on 29 carries and scored four touchdowns in the state semifinal to lead the Yellow Jackets to a 37–30 victory. He gained 2,614 yards on 341 rushes (7.7 avg.) and scored 32 TDs during his senior season, rushing for over 200 yards in five games. He was selected to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas. Gray also competed in track & field at Detroit County. In 2006, he placed fourth in the 200-meter dash at the MHSAA Division 3 State Finals with a time of 22.84 seconds,{{Cite web|url=https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/84728|title=MHSAA Division 3 State Finals – Track & Field Meet|website=Athletic.net}} and as a senior, placed third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.13 seconds.{{Cite web|url=https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/30464|title=MHSAA State Finals Division 3 – Track & Field Meet|website=Athletic.net}}

Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, he was rated as the fourth best running back prospect of his class.[https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Jonas-Gray-45783 Jonas Gray – Yahoo Sports]

College career

Gray attended the University of Notre Dame from 2008 to 2011. He played sparingly his first three seasons, primarily as a back-up to Armando Allen, Robert Hughes and Cierre Wood. As a senior, while splitting carries with Wood, Gray rushed for 791 yards on 114 carries (6.9 avg) while scoring 12 touchdowns. He tore his ACL, MCL, and LCL during a game vs. Boston College.{{Cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/7261228/injured-knee-shelves-jonas-gray-notre-dame-fighting-irish-season|title=Injured knee shelves Irish RB Gray for season|date=November 20, 2011|website=ESPN.com}}

Professional career

=Miami Dolphins=

Gray was signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent. He was placed on the PUP list while he rehabbed his injured knee. He was among final cuts on August 31, 2013.

=Baltimore Ravens=

Gray was signed by the Baltimore Ravens to their practice squad on September 2, 2013.

=New England Patriots=

Gray was signed by the New England Patriots to a future/reserve contract on January 10, 2014.{{Cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4757170/rb-gray-signed-to-future-contract-for-14|title=RB Gray signed to future contract for '14|date=January 10, 2014|website=ESPN.com}} Gray did not survive the final cuts, but was signed to the practice squad the next day. On October 16, 2014, Gray was signed to the active roster before their Thursday Night Football game against the New York Jets.

On November 16, 2014, Gray rushed for 201 yards, and a franchise-record four touchdowns on 37 carries in his fourth NFL game, leading the New England Patriots to a 42–20 victory over the host Indianapolis Colts.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/sports/football/rams-defense-shuts-down-broncos-running-game.html|title=Patriots Trample Colts as a Young Rusher Sets a Record|newspaper=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press|date=November 16, 2014}} Gray was the first NFL running back since 1921 to score four rushing touchdowns in a game after entering the game with zero career touchdowns,{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaHq5SmSUms|title=Mike Petraglia, Chris Price on how Pats, Jonas Gray pounded Colts|via=www.youtube.com}} and the first running back in the Super Bowl era to account for more than 25 percent of rushing touchdowns (4 of 10) in a week with at least 10 games. A correction to the official stats (removing a 2-yard loss that was negated by a 15-yard facemask penalty against the Colts) made his final stats for the game 201 yards on 37 carries.{{Cite web|url=https://nesn.com/2014/11/nfl-jonas-gray-rushed-for-201-yards-not-199-against-colts/|title=NFL: Jonas Gray Ran For 201 Yards, Not 199, In Patriots' Rout Of Colts | New England Patriots | NESN.com}} He scored 24 total points in the game, which was tied with Marshawn Lynch for the most by any player in a single game in the 2014 season.{{Cite web |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/play-index/pgl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=game&year_min=2014&year_max=2014&season_start=1&season_end=-1&pos=0&career_game_num_min=1&career_game_num_max=400&game_num_min=0&game_num_max=99&week_num_min=1&week_num_max=17&c1stat=scoring&c1comp=gt&c1val=1&c5val=1.0&order_by=scoring |title=Player Game Finder Query Results |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en |access-date=February 25, 2018}}

Gray was benched for the next game, due to a team infraction of being late to practice a week after the Colts game, something head coach Bill Belichick is known not to tolerate.{{cite web|last=Faulk|first=Kevin|title=The Patriot Way|url=https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/kevin-faulk-patriots-way|website=The Players' Tribune|date=January 13, 2017|access-date=February 5, 2019}} He would only record 91 more total yards in the season, and was inactive for four of the Patriots remaining nine games, including the team's win in Super Bowl XLIX. Gray finished the season with 89 carries that resulted in 412 total yards and 5 touchdowns.{{Cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/nfl/playoffs/2014/story/_/id/12263652/super-bowl-xlix-jonas-gray-inactive-new-england-patriots|title=Patriots RB Gray inactive for Super Bowl XLIX|date=February 1, 2015|website=ESPN.com}} On September 5, 2015, Gray was released by the Patriots.{{cite web|title=Patriots release 11 players; Place Brandon LaFell on PUP|url=http://www.patriots.com/news/2015/09/05/patriots-release-11-players-place-brandon-lafell-pup|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608214355/http://www.patriots.com/news/2015/09/05/patriots-release-11-players-place-brandon-lafell-pup|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 8, 2017|website=Patriots.com|date=September 5, 2015|access-date=December 1, 2016}}

=Miami Dolphins (second stint)=

The Dolphins signed Gray to their practice squad on September 9, 2015.[https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/13616316/jonas-gray-miami-dolphins-shocked-was-cut-new-england-patriots "Jonas Gray 'shocked' he was cut but grateful to Pats for experience"], ESPN, September 9, 2015. On September 11, Gray signed to Dolphins active roster.[https://www.nfl.com/news/jonas-gray-signed-to-dolphins-active-roster-0ap3000000528119 "Jonas Gray signed to Dolphins' active squad"], NFL, September 11, 2015. On September 14, 2015, Gray was waived by the Dolphins, only to be re-added to the practice squad two days later and signed to the active squad on September 22, 2015. He was released again on November 10, 2015, and re-signed to the practice squad the next day.{{Cite web|url=https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/11/11/dolphins-add-jonas-gray-to-practice-squad/|title=Dolphins add Jonas Gray to practice squad|first=Michael David|last=Smith|date=November 12, 2015}}

=Jacksonville Jaguars=

Gray was signed off the Dolphins' practice squad to the Jacksonville Jaguars active roster on December 15, 2015. On August 17, 2016, Gray was waived/injured by the Jaguars.{{cite web|title=Jaguars waive Jonas Gray, claim T.J. Barnes off waivers|url=http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/08/17/jaguars-waive-jonas-gray-claim-t-j-barnes-off-waivers/|last=Alper|first=Josh|website=NBCSports.com|date=August 17, 2016 }} After going unclaimed on waivers, Gray reverted to injured reserve. On August 24, 2016, Gray was released from the Jaguars' injured reserve.{{cite web | title=Jonas Gray: Reaches injury settlement with Jaguars | website=CBSSports.com | date=2016-08-24 | url=https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/football/news/jonas-gray-reaches-injury-settlement-with-jaguars/ | access-date=2025-05-18}}

References

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