Last season, Cyrus Jones was a nationally renowned punt returner and an All-SEC cornerback on an Alabama team that won the national title.
Fast forward a year, and the New England Patriots rookie now can neither stay on the field nor hold on to the ball.
Jones, New England’s top pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, has been a disappointment thus far in his first season as a professional. He’s buried on the Patriots’ defensive back depth chart — playing more than 10 snaps in just three of the team’s 12 games — and the electrifying returns he used to reel off with regularity have been nowhere to be found.
Speaking with reporters before Wednesday’s Patriots practice, the 22-year-old admitted his confidence is not where it needs to be.
“It’s definitely a confidence thing,” Jones told reporters. “I didn’t really do a very good job this year of helping myself out in that category. But I still feel confident in what I can do. I’m just trying to focus on becoming more consistent and just eliminate bad football. It’s tough to gain trust in the coaches when you keep going out there and muffing punts and doing things like that.
“So it’s on me. Coaches keep giving me opportunities because they know what I can do once I get the bad football eliminated. So that’s what I’m focusing on — just trying to be more secure with the ball. And from then on, once I get the ball in my hands, that’s the easy part.”
Lapses in decision-making plagued Jones early in the season, both on special teams and in the secondary. After being ejected from a Week 5 win over the Cleveland Browns for throwing a punch, he sat out three consecutive games as a healthy scratch.
Jones hasn’t made those kinds of mental mistakes since returning to the lineup in Week 9, but ball security remains an issue. He fumbled Sunday for the fourth time this season, muffing a Johnny Hekker punt in a win over the Los Angeles Rams. Danny Amendola took over punt-return duties after that, with Jones returning only after Amendola suffered a high ankle sprain later in the game.
“It was a tough punt, but that’s no excuse,” Jones told reporters. “We worked on it all week in practice. I’ve just got to do a better job. Simple as that.”
Jones’ prolonged streak of subpar play confuses him. He hasn’t muffed any punts in practice, he said, but for whatever reason, that success hasn’t translated.
“It’s pretty frustrating,” he told reporters. “But you build character through tough situations, not through success.”
The Patriots have not given up on the young defensive back. His talent is evident to anyone who’s watched his collegiate highlights, and coach Bill Belichick continues to send him out for punt and kick returns, likely hoping he’ll play his way out of his funk.
And with Amendola now likely out until the playoffs, Jones should continue to get his opportunities, as he and starting wide receiver Julian Edelman are the only other Patriots players with significant punt-return experience.
“It’s all about getting experience and just trying to eliminate the mistakes,” Jones told reporters. “It’s tough, but you can’t really do nothing once they happen. You’ve just got to try to keep improving in practice, and next time you get out there, try to not have that happen again.”
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
