Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew avoided charges in connection with an alleged Memorial Day weekend bar fight when he was accused of punching a bouncer.
The Florida state attorney’s office announced Tuesday that not enough evidence existed to charge Jones-Drew with simple battery.
“Based on the facts and the law, the state cannot establish the charge beyond and to the exclusion of all reasonable doubt,” the state attorney’s office said in the statement, which was obtained by News4Jax.com in Jacksonville.
In a brief news conference earlier this month, Jones-Drew declined to answer any questions or offer any details about what happened at last month’s altercation.
Jones-Drew’s agent, Adisa Bakari, disputed a police report and said his client wasn’t involved in a fight with a bouncer at the Conch House on May 26. Gregory Anderson, the lawyer for bouncer Kasim Howard, called the “unprovoked.”
Jones-Drew, 28, the NFL’s leading rusher in 2011, gained just 414 yards and scored one touchdown last season before suffering a season-ending Lisfranc injury in his right foot on Oct. 21.