In his six seasons in New England, Jonathan Jones worked his way from undrafted rookie cornerback out of Auburn to a key contributor on the defense.
In fact, following Stephon Gilmore’s trade to the Panthers, Jones was the Patriots' highest-paid player on the cornerback depth chart that’s growing thinner by the day.
Jones was placed on IR last week with a shoulder injury that required surgery and will reportedly end his season.
It certainly leaves a hole at the slot cornerback position where Jones has played most often over the years, having missed just one game prior to this season.
But according to New England cornerbacks coach Mike Pellegrino, the team will be without much more than just a body on the field in Jones’ absence.
“You lose a whole lot more than a football player,” Pellegrino said in a Tuesday Zoom session with reporters. “You lose a leader. You lose a veteran. You lose a guy that is really a Swiss Army Knife within our defense. Jon Jones, for me, is like my second coach down there on the field. The guy’s a great guy. He works hard. He’s everything that you look for in a Patriot. He’s tough. He’s smart. He’s dependable. Last year I said he’d go out there on one arm, honestly he did in that game. The guy defines toughness for me. I appreciate him. He puts a lot in. We get every ounce of him out. He’ll definitely be missed.”
Still, despite the blow to his positional group, Pellegrino sounds quite confident in the players who’ll be asked to step up to a new opportunity in the coming weeks.
“My guy Myles [Bryant], Joejuan [Williams], Justin Bethel, Shaun Wade, (practice squader) D’Angelo Ross, everybody’s ready to go.
So, next-man-up mentality,” Pellegrino said. “I trust my guys, my guys that prepare well, and I have faith in my guys.”
New England’s cornerbacks and overall defense will get a major challenge in this Sunday’s trip to L.A. to take on rising star quarterback Justin Herbert and the talented Chargers offense.
