When Mike Vrabel became the head coach of the New England Patriots in January, he performed an audit of the roster and that withdrew many of the longest tenured players on the team. One of the few players remaining is cornerback Marcus Jones, who has proven to be one of the most consistent players on the defense this season.
Over the last two years, Jones has developed into a reliable cornerstone of the Patriots defense. He plays 100 percent of the defensive snaps in most games as the slot cornerback, defending the opposing team's most dynamic receivers every week.
Last season, Jones finished with 58 tackles, 48 of them were solo tackles, which was the fourth-most on the team and it's an area that Jones is likely to be among the top of the team with again this season as 12 of his 16 total tackles are solo.
On top of his defensive assignments, Jones is the top punt returner in the NFL. Since 2022, he's been viewed as one of the most talented players on the team with the football in his hands. He was named an All-Pro punt returner as a rookie that led the NFL with 362 yards yards and had the longest return of the season that year with an 84-yard return.
Now in 2025, Jones leads the NFL with 202 yards with a touchdown and is averaging 28.9 yards per return, which all lead the NFL this season after four games.
.@MarcusJonesocho TO THE HOUSE 💥
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 28, 2025
📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/71GGzjnuXQ
Marcus Jones Broke a Franchise Record That Was Set 49-Years Ago
In Week 4, Jones broke a franchise record with his punt returns, having big returns of 87 and 61 yards to total 167-yards. It was the most punt return yards in a game since 1976 when Mike Haynes had four returns for 156 yards.
After the game, coach Vrabel spoke glowingly about Jones in his postgame press conference on the way he plays and what he brings to the table for his team as a weapon.
"I think that's what we've been looking for. I talked about that throughout training camp and how those return units needed to be a weapon for us. We got the one kickoff return, but to be able to do that on a punt return- fantastic effort by Marcus and everybody else out there. But I think a lot of that was his own individual will, skill, and effort. That has to be a weapon and it's something that we felt like could be through this season and getting ready for this year."
Jones has played 189 defensive snaps this season, it's the sixth-most on the team overall and the second-most for a CB through the first four weeks of the season. He's also one of the few defensive starters to have roles on special teams. Vrabel talked about how Jones has unteachable skills that are valuable to the team.
"He's not the biggest player but he's got great play strength with the football in his hands. He's got great vision and you got to be fearless at some level to catch that punt and know you're going to make the first guy miss and we're confident in that. It's a natural skill- that's hard to teach. ... We need to continue to make it a weapon."
Many began the offseasonuncertain if Jones was going to make the team considering the way that Vrabel was cleaning up the roster, with Jones being in a contract year, and with the way that Vrabel has valued size and length on his defense, which Jones doesn't have.
Since then, Jones was named a team captain and has shown to be a top player on the team. It shows that some people were wrong on Jones and hopefully, he can continue his impressive start to the season.