<\/p>\n
Before Drake Maye\u2019s late-game heroics against the Tennessee Titans, the New England Patriots\u2019 opponent had a decision to make on a punt play: to kick or not to kick to Marcus Jones.<\/p>\n
The Titans opted for the first route, and it cost them. The third-year returner fielded the ball at the Patriots\u2019 25-yard line, and took it all the way to midfield to set up Maye and the offense in a comparatively manageable position. 11 plays later they scored an improbable touchdown to took the contest to overtime as time expired.<\/p>\n
Jones having an active hand in that is nothing new. In fact, he has been one of the Patriots\u2019 best players in his role as punt returner.<\/p>\n
Returning to the All-Pro form he showcased as a rookie, Jones ranks second among qualifying punt returners with an average of 15.6 yards per runback; only the Detroit Lions\u2019 Kalif Raymond (16.6) has him beat in that category at the moment.<\/p>\n
On the whole, Jones has returned 17 punts for a total of 266 yards. Those include his 25-yarder versus Tennessee, as well as a 44-yarder earlier in the same game. He also broke free for a 62-yard runback against the New York Jets the previous week to set up another touchdown by New England\u2019s up-and-down offense.<\/p>\n
What makes him so good, though? According to the man himself, the secret lies in his supporting staff around coordinator Jeremy Springer.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst off, I would say \u2018Spring Show\u2019 has been putting up a great message to us every single time that we come into meetings, letting us know how important special teams is as a whole. And then also just the schemes that we\u2019ve been having, guys blocking,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Brenden] Schooler, [JaMycal] Hasty, everyone; the corners \u2014 Marco [Wilson], [Marcellas] Dial, all those guys \u2014 making sure they\u2019re doing their blocks and everything so that I can end up even having time to return the ball. It\u2019s been a collective effort, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Patriots\u2019 special teams performance as a whole has been uneven this season. Kickoff returns rarely gained significant yardage; the punt coverage team surrendered a touchdown in Week 7 against the Jacksonville Jaguars; Joey Slye has made just 80 percent of his field goals, including one that was blocked.<\/p>\n
Jones, meanwhile, has been a bright spot especially as of late. And while he likes to deflect praise onto his coaches and teammates, he himself also does his part \u2014 starting with deciding to return a kick in the first place.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first thing I would say is always seeing the way the ball\u2019s kicked, whether it\u2019s an over-end punt or it\u2019s going to be a long punt that doesn\u2019t have that much hang time. Hang time has an important factor on whether I return a punt or not,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then just kind of going from there. Seeing the nose of the ball, and then peaking every once in a while, seeing where everyone is. Whenever I do get the ball, that\u2019s when my offensive instinct, my offensive mind go into setting up blocks and going from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The offensive instinct Jones is talking about has reared its head regularly since he joined the Patriots as a third-round selection in the 2022 NFL Draft \u2014 and not just on special teams: Jones also has played 19 snaps on offense, touching the ball four times for 78 yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n
New Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt has yet to use Jones in that capacity. However, given his rare talent in the return game he has been able to have a major impact on the New England offense even without playing a single snap for them so far in 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The third-year man is among the most productive return men in the NFL right now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-england-patriots"],"yoast_head":"\n