Will Patriots Use Marcus Jones On Offense Again This Season?

FOXBORO, Mass. — Marcus Jones was a do-it-all weapon as a New England Patriots rookie.

He played defense. He played offense. He was an All-Pro punt returner. He became the first player in the Super Bowl era to score a receiving touchdown, a punt/kick-return touchdown and a pick-six in the same season.

All told, the third-round draft pick played 370 snaps at cornerback (both slot and outside), 164 in the kicking game and 18 at wide receiver last season. Will we see him used similarly in Year 2? He isn’t saying.

“I’ll find out when you guys find out,” Jones said with a smile after Tuesday’s training camp practice. “I can’t give you anything. I don’t know anything right now. Whenever my number’s called, just know I’ll be ready.”

If the Patriots do plan to continue using the 5-foot-8 playmaker as an occasional offensive weapon, they haven’t shown it thus far. In the 12 training camp practices that preceded this Thursday’s preseason opener against the Houston Texans, Jones only saw reps on defense and special teams.

Will he start working at wideout once camp ends and fans and reporters no longer are allowed to watch practice?

“I don’t know,” Jones said. “I can’t give it to you. I don’t know.”

Jones also said he hasn’t had much contact with Bill O’Brien, the Patriots’ new offensive coordinator.

“The most conversation I’ve had with him is, ‘How’s your day going? My day’s going good,’ ” he said.

Teams typically keep their most inventive game-plan wrinkles under wraps during training camp and the preseason, so it’s not surprising that Jones and the Patriots are playing coy about his role. He did share earlier in camp, however, that he was preparing to play in all three phases.

“My main focus is to make sure that I know what to do and how to do it, whether that’s offense or defense or special teams,” Jones said on July 28. “… The main thing is making sure that I’m in the playbook, throughout the day and at night.”

He added: “I don’t really see it as a difficult thing. It’s just one of those situations — it’s like school; you’ve got to study over and over and over again.”

Jones proved in 2022 that he can be a valuable offensive sparkplug, but the Patriots might not need him as much on that side of the ball this season. Their offense should be much more capable and less reliant on gadget plays following the move from Matt Patricia to O’Brien, and snaps that might have gone to Jones could instead fall to impressive rookie receiver Demario Douglas.

Douglas, who modeled his game after Jones and has similar measurables, looked excellent in the first two weeks of training camp, with highlights that included a string of one-sided battles against Jones in 1-on-1 drills.

The more important question for Jones is how he’ll factor into the Patriots’ cornerback rotations. Though his lack of ideal height makes him a more natural fit in the slot, he’s also seen frequent work as an outside corner this summer, rotating with veteran Jonathan Jones and fellow second-year pro Jack Jones opposite first-round rookie Christian Gonzalez.

Head coach Bill Belichick said Jones is “way ahead of where he was last year.”

“I don’t think he was practicing until the middle of August, late August,” Belichick said Tuesday. “With a training camp and a year under his belt — a year of regular season and the offseason — (it’s been) good.

“He’s made a lot of progress. All those second-year guys have. I wouldn’t certainly limit it to him, but he’s done a good job and knows a lot more, understands more, is more familiar with who he’s playing against and what we’re doing.”