The New England Patriots have a handful of deep positional groups, but perhaps none deeper than the secondary. Cornerback Jonathan Jones made that quite clear during the first day of training camp on Friday.
Jones was among the biggest standouts as he came away with an interception of quarterback Tom Brady and later deflected another pass in 11-on-11 red zone defense. His interception came during 2-on-2 goal-line drills. He was covering receiver Braxton Berrios during both plays.
Jones knows he’s going to have to impress if he wants to earn a spot on the Patriots roster for the fourth-straight year, especially with the talent around him including All-Pro Stephon Gilmore, J.C. Jackson and Jason McCourty.
“We have a lot of guys, you know, top to bottom that have played a lot of good ball, that continue to play a lot of good ball,” Jones told the media Thursday. “It’s competition for ourselves. I think we all push each other in the room and we look forward to it.”
Teammates have been equally impressed by Jones, who signed his one-year tender as a restricted free agent in April.
“He’s a feisty player,” safety Duron Harmon said of Jones. “A guy that works hard, doesn’t quit, plays hard, tackles covered. A guy who’s just consistent. He tries to do everything right. He’s a guy that we’re lucky, and I’m lucky, to have as a teammate.”
Jones played in all 16 games last season (48 in last three years) with five starts. He had a career-best three interceptions as well.
“Great energy,” fellow corner Stephon Gilmore said. “Great player, great speed, competitive. Everybody’s trying to get better, and he’s one of the good players on our team that I respect a lot.”
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