| No. 25 – New England Patriots | |||||||||
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| Position: | Cornerback, Return specialist Wide Receiver | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | October 22, 1998 Enterprise, Alabama | ||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 175 lb (79 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Enterprise (Enterprise, AL) | ||||||||
| College: | |||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 2022 / Round: 3 / Pick: 85 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 11, 2022 | |||||||||
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| Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||||||
Marcus Elliot Jones (born October 22, 1998) is an American football cornerback and return specialist for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Troy and Houston and was drafted by the Patriots in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Jones grew up in Enterprise, Alabama and attended Enterprise High School, where he played basketball and football.[1] He was named all-state as a senior after recording 27 tackles with five interceptions and 16 passes broken up on defense and returning three punts and one kickoff for touchdowns.[2]
Jones began his college football career at Troy. He was named the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year and second-team all-conference as a return specialist after returning 30 kickoffs for 879 yards and three touchdowns and 14 for 121 yards while also intercepting two passes on defense, one of which was returned for a touchdown.[3] As a sophomore, he was named first-team All-Sun Belt as a return specialist after returning 23 kickoffs for 584 yards and one touchdown and to the second-team as a cornerback after breaking up eight passes with one interception.[4] After his sophomore season Jones entered the transfer portal and later announced that he would be transferring to the University of Houston.[5][6]
After sitting out one season and redshirting due to NCAA transfer rules, Jones had 24 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss and one interception on defense.[7] Jones was also named first-team All-American Athletic Conference as a return specialist after leading the nation with 337 yards on 17 punt returns with one returned for a touchdown.[8] During his redshirt senior season Jones returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown with 17 seconds left against 19th-ranked SMU to win the game 44–37.[9] To cap off the season he won the Paul Hornung Award, given to the nation's most versatile player,[10] and was selected to the Associated Press All-America first team as a defensive back.[11] He also won AAC Special Teams Player of the Year along with being named first-team All-AAC as a return specialist and second-team All-AAC as a cornerback.[12]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
174 lb (79 kg) |
28+7⁄8 in (0.73 m) |
8+7⁄8 in (0.23 m) | |||||||||
| All values from NFL Combine[13][14] | ||||||||||||
Jones was selected by the New England Patriots in the third round (85th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft.[15] In Week 11 against the New York Jets, Jones returned a game-winning punt return touchdown for 84 yards with just 5 seconds remaining in the 10–3 win.[16] Jones' touchdown was the first punt return touchdown of the entire 2022 season.[17][18] In the Patriots' Week 13 game against the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football, Jones scored his first career offensive touchdown on a 48-yard catch-and-run reception, on the first offensive snap of his career. It was the first receiving touchdown from scrimmage by a defensive back since the Jets' Marcus Coleman in 2000, also against the Bills.[19]