'Pacman' unavailable to discuss police incident

IRVING, Texas -- Cowboys cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones wasn't in the locker room Thursday to address a scuffle with his bodyguard hotel that police are calling a private matter that will not lead to charges.

It was still unclear how Tuesday night's incident at a Dallas hotel would affect Jones' NFL status.

Jones, who practiced Thursday, was fully reinstated in August by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after the cornerback served a 17-month suspension for an accumulation of arrests and legal problems.

Goodell said in a radio interview Thursday that the league was investigating the matter. He said he didn't speak with Jones individually during a previously scheduled meeting with the entire Cowboys team Wednesday night.

"I'm disappointed that we're even discussing this at this point in time," Goodell said on ESPN Radio. "But we'll have to wait for the facts."

Owner Jerry Jones and the Cowboys haven't commented. Coach Wade Phillips' daily news briefing was scheduled later Thursday.

Nose tackle Tank Johnson, who brought his own checkered past to Dallas, said the incident was overblown and that it wouldn't distract the team.

"This is not that big of a deal," Johnson said. "Nobody's in jail, nobody's in trouble, nobody's hurt. We're all here ready to practice, ready to work."

An empty locker separates the cubicles of Jones and Johnson, who missed the first eight games last season while serving an NFL suspension for a series of off-field problems. Johnson doesn't think Goodell will take any punitive action against the cornerback.

Dallas police said officers responded to a disturbance late Tuesday night at an upscale downtown hotel. Officers said the incident was over by the time they arrived and that some hotel employees reported overhearing a scuffle in the men's restroom in the lobby.

Jones and his bodyguard said everything was OK, and both were driven from the hotel by an acquaintance, police said.

Before the latest incident, Jones was arrested six times and involved in a dozen incidents requiring police intervention since Tennessee drafted him in the first round in 2005. That includes his connection to a shooting at a Las Vegas strip club.

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