It’s been a stunning nosedive from a promising, if tumultuous, rookie season for the Patriots’ Jack Jones. On Monday, the team finally decided it had enough of Jones in his brief NFL career with the team, and New England coach Bill Belichick sent him packing, cutting ties with the 2022 fourth-rounder.
One New England reporter—Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald—pegged the reason behind the move as a lack of professionalism. Jones was benched for the Week 9 game against Washington for missing curfew at the team hotel, and was benched again on Sunday for all but 10 snaps against the Colts in Germany.
He was seen pouting on the sideline. According to Kyed, that prompted the Patriots to cut ties with Jones.
“Patriots CB Jack Jones was given an opportunity to improve his attitude this week in Germany and didn’t, per source. As a result, he was waived,” Kyed wrote on Twitter/X.
On Monday, after having fended off questions about Jack Jones for the past two days, Belichick addressed the move.
“Jack’s a talented player,” Belichick said. “He showed that when he played for us at times. In the end, I felt like we just needed to move on. But he’s a talented player.”
Jack Jones Has Been Troubled Since Patriots Drafted Him
Talented but troubled. Jones was drafted in the fourth round in 2022 out of Arizona State, and might have gone higher if not for the problems he caused himself in college.
As SI.com’s Albert Breer wrote on Twitter (and he took some blowback at the time): “The Patriots are taking troubled Arizona State CB Jack Jones at 121.”
@AlbertBreer Must you have to say troubled. You could have said the patriots are taking CB jack Jones at pick 121.
He was ruled academically ineligible at USC, then was kicked out of school after he was arrested for burglary in 2018. Jones later revived his career, after a stint in junior college, with the Sun Devils.
He looked like a steal last season when the Patriots had him on the field for 13 games as a rookie. Jones recorded two interceptions, including a pick-6 on Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in Week 4. He had a 74.7 grade at Pro Football Focus, establishing himself as a solid cornerback going forward.
But he was suspended the team last in the season, and concerns over his lack of professionalism resurfaced.
Jones was arrested in June at Boston’s Logan Airport with two loaded guns. He agreed to a plea deal in August, and avoided jail time when prosecutors agreed to drop the charges against Jones—nine altogether—in exchange for Jones agreeing to one year of probation and 48 hours of community service. He never really seemed to recover from that incident this season.
‘Should Have Been Cut This Summer’
Now, in hindsight, it’s clear that perhaps the Patriots were too lenient on Jack Jones. He was originally benched for having missed curfew at the team hotel ahead of the Commanders game, but it’s possible, too, that he got off too easy in last year’s suspension and the relative lack of a penalty for the gun charges.
It’s worth noting that the legal issues and trouble with the team did seem to sink Jones’ performance. After his very good PFF grade in 2022, he had sunk to a 46.4 this season, among the worst cornerbacks in the league.
The Patriots have reportedly waived CB Jack Jones
@ZoandBertrand react to the breaking news
“Should have cut him a week ago,” said former Patriots quarterback and team color analyst Scott Zolak. “He should have been cut this summer. Should have been cut the second this thing went down, we all know what went down. Should have been off the team at that point. I think we all agreed on that. Nobody argued that. Nobody.”
Well, he’s cut now. As of this week, Jack Jones is no longer a Patriot.
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Patriots’ Bill Belichick Breaks Silence on Cutting Ties With ‘Troubled’ CB