Missouri freshman offensive lineman Johnnie “DJ” Jones is in heart failure while waiting for a transplant, Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz said Wednesday.
Drinkwitz said the situation took a serious turn after Missouri first identified a heart issue and sent Jones, a 6-foot-6, 315-pound lineman from Bradenton, Florida, back home for more testing. The team then directed him to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville for a deeper evaluation.
During the SEC coaches’ conference call this week, Drinkwitz walked through how the process unfolded.
“Our first conversations were when we did our first EKG ...” Drinkwitz said Wednesday. “We were just hopeful that it was something that was easily resolvable.”
Drinkwitz said he and Missouri offensive line coach Brandon Jones, who is not related to the player, visited Jones and his family in July before fall camp started. After Jones was discharged from the Mayo Clinic, Drinkwitz said he believed there had been progress. Then last week, the team learned Jones had been readmitted to the hospital and placed on an advanced life support ECMO machine.
He was experiencing heart failure.
An ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation device, is used for life-threatening heart and lung conditions. According to the Mayo Clinic, it pushes oxygen-rich blood into the body and moves blood around the heart and lungs so those organs can rest and heal.
“It’s been a really challenging thing to understand,” Drinkwitz said. “You know, like, how does it go from a Division I athlete who played football and basketball in high school at a really high level to being, you know, nine months later in need of a miracle?”
Drinkwitz said Jones has heard from teammates by text and that he has FaceTimed with him, too. MU’s team doctor is in Florida with Jones and his family.
“Doing all we can,” Drinkwitz said.
Jones was regarded as one of Florida’s top tackle prospects last year and was ranked by various outlets among the top 300 players nationally.
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Missouri Freshman DJ Jones Faces A Far Bigger Fight Than Football
Missouri freshman offensive lineman DJ Jones has spent this season dealing with something far bigger than the normal grind of a college football fall. Jones underwent a heart transplant and is recovering, coach Eli Drinkwitz said, after preseason evaluations uncovered a significant heart problem that sent him to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.
Jones has not played this season and remains away from the team while Missouri continues its games, a reminder that his journey is now measured in medical updates rather than reps or snap counts. For a freshman trying to begin his college career, the focus has shifted entirely to recovery, and the Tigers are left pulling for a much more important comeback than anything on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou Fans Finally Got The Update They Needed On DJ Jones
Missouri fans got the update they had been hoping for on freshman offensive tackle Johnnie DJ Jones, who recently underwent a successful heart transplant and is now recovering. The need for the procedure was discovered during the Tigers freshmen intake, turning what should have been an ordinary start to college football into a deeply personal medical battle for one of the programs newest players.
Jones was treated at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., where the care team and donor family drew gratitude from coach Eli Drinkwitz and the Missouri community. For a team and fan base that had been following the situation closely, the news brings a measure of relief, even as Jones begins the long next stretch of recovery. [Read more 🡒]
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The challenge changes quickly now, with Texas A&M bringing a different kind of problem to the table in quarterback Marcel Reed. Eli Drinkwitz and Missouris players have been stressing sound tackling and clean execution as the week goes on, because the front seven will need to carry over the same urgency against a much more mobile threat and do it without any drop in focus. [Read more 🡒]