Patriots rookie Jack Jones owns PFF's top coverage grade among cornerbacks through five weeks
BOSTON -- Jack Jones has introduced himself to the NFL over the last two weeks, coming up with three turnovers for the New England Patriots. He's also pretty good at covering people, too.
There's been a lot of talk about Jones' ability to go get the football. Rightfully so, after the rookie made an incredibly athletic interception in New England's 29-0 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday. (We'll have much more on that pick in a moment.)
But first, look at where Jones ranks in Pro Football Focus' coverages grades among cornerbacks. There is no corner in the NFL that has graded higher than the New England rookie through five weeks:
That's pretty impressive for a 24-year-old in his first NFL action. The fourth-round pick out of Arizona State has really seen a spike in his playing time over the last two weeks -- playing 99 percent and 61 percent of New England's defensive snaps, respectively -- and he's made the most of the opportunity.
Last week in Green Bay, Jones pick-sixed Aaron Rodgers and forced a fumble. In Week 5, he made both a smart read and an Olympic-like leap to pick off a Jared Goff pass, as the Patriots' defense shut out the Lions and the NFL's highest-scoring offense.
Just one of the five passes that Goff threw Jones' way went for a completion. The rookie also had a pass breakup on one of Detroit's six futile fourth-down attempts.
There's a lot of talk about another rookie on the New England roster, with quarterback Bailey Zappe doing a fine job in place of the injured Mac Jones and Brian Hoyer. But Jones, who played nearly the entire game in Green Bay because of an injury to top corner Jalen Mills, has gone above and beyond the expectations over the last two weeks.
Jones' play even had Bill Belichick gushing on Monday. Belichick compared Jones to a wide receiver and was throwing out words like "tremendous" when discussing the corner's interception -- at length -- during his morning Zoom session with reporters.
"It's a tough play. It's well designed, what they were doing," Belichick said of the Lions. "[Tom] Kennedy was going down the seam and he was about 10 yards ahead of [T.J.] Hockenson and Hockenson was going down the sideline. It was what we call a double seam play where it's two guys going vertical, but they're at different levels. That's always hard on the defense. It's hard on the corner because if they're on the same level, he can midpoint both guys, but when they're on different levels like that, it's hard to do that.
"Jahlani [Tavai] made a really good play when the ball was in the air to close as much as he did, but Jack just came off of Kennedy as the ball was being thrown. Saw the throw, came off of Kennedy and obviously made a tremendous play with the interception and then being able to get his feet down in bounds," continued Belichick. "Of course Hockenson is a tough guy to defend with those high throws like that was. He would have, I'm sure, gone up and gotten it for a touchdown if Jack hadn't been able to get his hands on the ball. Really heads up play and just a good play by Jahlani and by Jack, for recognizing that. And then Jack's transition and ball skills, timing, jump, catch.
"It was an outstanding catch and to get his feet in bounds, I mean, he looked like a receiver doing that," added Belichick.
That is some seriously high praise from Belichick. Jones' hype continues to rise with each time he gets the ball back to the New England offense. But as Pro Football Focus' grades show us, he's much more than just a corner generating turnovers; he's pretty much locking down whoever he covers as well.
