Jack Jones is off to an impressive start in the New England Patriots’ secondary. In fact, eight weeks into his NFL career, Jones is the league’s highest-graded cornerback by Pro Football Focus — not bad for a fourth-round rookie.
But Jones isn’t just helping the Patriots with his aggressive coverage and improving run defense. In recent weeks, the Arizona State product also has emerged as an asset on New England’s field-goal block unit.
Positioning himself in a four-point stance on the end of the line, Jones came within inches of blocking multiple kicks in the Patriots’ Week 7 loss to the Chicago Bears. On Sunday, he appeared to finally get one, at the very least disrupting a 45-yard Greg Zuerlein field goal that sailed wide left in a 22-17 win over the New York Jets.
“I’m not sure whether he felt like he tipped it or not,” special teams captain Matthew Slater said Monday in a video conference. “But I’ll say this: You watch the film, if that kick is on line, he’s going to block it. He’s right over the block point. He gets tremendous jump off the ball, great dip and great extension. If that ball is kicked anywhere near the uprights and looks like it’s going to go in, it’s going to get blocked. So he did a tremendous job.”
Slater said Jones, in addition to his obvious defensive talents, “can really be a weapon” for the Patriots in that special teams role, which previously was held by kicking-game stalwart Justin Bethel. He even has received 1-on-1 instruction there from head coach Bill Belichick.
“I think Jack has tremendous quickness, great anticipation of the snap, and just he’s taken the coaching,” Slater said. “He’s been coached hard on it. Coach Belichick has coached him directly on it. Obviously, Cam (Achord) and Joe (Houston) have coached him on it. But he’s taken the coaching, he’s really applied himself to getting better, and if you can block a field goal or an extra point in this league, that’s huge in terms of helping you win or lose ballgames. So we’re going to need him to continue to do that. He’s really filled in nicely.”
Achord, New England’s special teams coordinator, said Jones’ consistent field-goal pressure could force kickers the Patriots face in future weeks to quicken their approach, which could lead to more misses.
“Jack’s doing a really good job right there,” Achord said Tuesday, “and I think that does lead to other kickers feeling the pressure off that edge and speeding up their operation time, which may lead to them wrapping the ball which leads to pulling the ball left.”
The Patriots’ overall special teams performance has been poor thus far, but they’re coming off a season-best showing in the kicking game against the Jets. In addition to Jones’ contribution, Nick Folk went 5-for-5 on field goals, Marcus Jones had a 43-yard punt return, the kickoff coverage was strong and struggling punter Jake Bailey returned to form, with New York not starting a single drive outside its 25-yard line.
New England will host the Indianapolis Colts this Sunday at Gillette Stadium.
