Patriots coaches speak about Jack Jones after surprise practice exit

Filed under:

The sophomore cornerback left Thursday’s training camp practice under curious circumstances.

Arguably the most noteworthy moment of the New England Patriots’ eighth training camp practice on Thursday morning saw Jack Jones leave the session under curious circumstances.

The sophomore cornerback had just broken up a pass intended for wide receiver Kendrick Bourne, but seemed upset following the play. He had a brief chat with his position coach, Mike Pellegrino, before eventually leaving the field. Safety Jabrill Peppers jogged over to talk to his young teammate, but he continued his walk off the field.

Jones remained out of the picture for the next 20 minutes, before surprisingly reemerging. He did not enter practice again, though, and spent the rest of the session watching from a far — at one point having a 1-on-1 conversation with director of player personnel Matt Groh.

What had happened? That is anybody’s guess, and the Patriots’ coaching staff would not offer any insight either on Friday.

“It was a great play. And then, we had a conversation,” Mike Pellegrino told the media on a video call. “That conversation is personal, and we’re moving on to training camp [practice] 9 and watch him grow as each day goes forward. ...

“Obviously, it’s tough to understand what’s going on [from the outside], but the conversations I have with my players are personal, especially in those scenarios like that. You guys don’t know what happened, but I’m not going to share what we spoke about.”

Thursday’s incident is just the latest chapter in what had been an eventful offseason for the 2022 fourth-round draft pick. Jones also was arrested at Boston’s Logan Airport in June after allegedly trying to board a flight to Los Angeles with two loaded guns and additional ammunition in his carry-on luggage; he is due to appear in court on August 18.

The arrest came just a few months after he was suspended by the team while on injured reserve. That suspension was later lifted, allowing Jones to participate in the Patriots’ offseason workouts in a normal capacity.

But while his questionable off-field history — one going back all the way to his college days — is a concern, Jones has not had any noticeable issues while on the field. Quite the opposite: he might still be in line to earn a starting role in the New England secondary, even with his reliability getting called into question again.

Jones, after all, is unquestionably a serious talent.

“Every day he’s getting better,” said linebackers coach and de facto co-defensive coordinator Jerod Mayo on Friday. “It’s no secret that he’s a very good athlete and he can do a lot of different things. Honestly, he’s a tough guy; he’s smart. Hopefully, we can continue this trajectory as far as his on-the-field play.”