ESPN NFL

Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley

A day after police confirmed that Cowboys cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones was involved in an altercation with his body guard at a Dallas hotel, his close friend and teammate Tank Johnson rushed to his defense. Standing in front of dozens of reporters and boom mics, Johnson said the incident had been "blown out of proportion."

Johnson scolded one reporter and said that he didn't think NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, a man he's quite familiar with, would take action.

"I think it's something we can handle in-house," Johnson said. "Sometimes you don't have to go to the principal's office. You can just handle it in the classroom."

Johnson was suspended by the league for part of last season and he described on Thursday going through a "deep depression."

He has emerged as a team leader and a positive example of someone who's taken advantage of a second chance. He did admit that there's certain things he's done since moving to Dallas that he's "lucky" no one found out.

Cowboys tight end and team captain Jason Witten said he was still trying to figure out what happened. But he did acknowledge how important Jones has become to the team. Asked what losing Jones would mean, Witten said, "It would be very devastating to this team because he's a big part of what we're doing."

A potential sports hernia for Pro Bowl cornerback Terence Newman has made Jones even more valuable to the Cowboys. Earlier today, ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported that the Cowboys have concluded an internal investigation, and have determined that Jones will not be disciplined. An independent league investigation has not been completed.