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| No. 25 – New England Patriots | |||||||||||||||
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| Position | Cornerback Punt returner | ||||||||||||||
| Roster status | Active | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | October 22, 1998 Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 188 lb (85 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Enterprise (Enterprise, Alabama) | ||||||||||||||
| College | |||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2022: 3rd round, 85th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 2, 2025 | |||||||||||||||
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Marcus Elliot Jones (born October 22, 1998) is an American professional football cornerback and punt returner for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Troy Trojans and the Houston Cougars. Jones was selected 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 in 2017. 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 in 2018, 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 NCAA transfer portal and later announced that he would be transferring to the University of Houston in 2019. [5] [6] He sat out one season and redshirt due to NCAA transfer rules, maintaining his junior status for the 2020 season.
Jones had 24 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, and one interception on defense during his redshirt junior season in 2020. [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 in 2021, 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 American Athletic Conference (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]
| Season | GP | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | Kick returns | Punt returns | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo | Ast | Cmb | TfL | Sck | Int | Yds | Avg | TD | PD | FR | FF | TD | Ret | Yds | Avg | TD | Ret | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| Troy Trojans | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | 13 | 34 | 15 | 49 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 2 | 110 | 55.0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 879 | 29.3 | 3 | 14 | 115 | 8.2 | 0 |
| 2018 | 11 | 23 | 10 | 33 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 584 | 25.4 | 1 | 6 | 49 | 8.2 | 0 |
| Houston Cougars | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | 0 | Sat out due to NCAA transfer portal rules and redshirt | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | 7 | 18 | 6 | 24 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 22 | 22.0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 102 | 20.4 | 0 | 17 | 337 | 19.8 | 1 |
| 2021 | 13 | 36 | 11 | 47 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 5 | 2 | 0.4 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 510 | 34.0 | 2 | 26 | 374 | 14.4 | 2 |
| Career | 44 | 111 | 42 | 153 | 5.0 | 0.0 | 9 | 134 | 14.9 | 1 | 31 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 73 | 2,075 | 28.4 | 6 | 63 | 875 | 13.9 | 3 |
| 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, with five seconds left in the game, Jones made a game-winning 84-yard punt return touchdown in the 10–3 win. [16] It was the first punt return touchdown in the NFL for the 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] In the Patriots' Christmas Eve game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Jones scored on a 69-yard pick-six, making him the first player in 45 seasons to score a touchdown on offense, defense, and special teams in the same season. [20] Officially, Jones was the first player since Bill Dudley and Tom Harmon (both in 1947) to accomplish the feat. [21]
Jones finished his rookie season with 39 tackles, seven passes defended, and two interceptions on defense. On offense, he had four receptions for 78 yards and one touchdown. He led the NFL with 362 punt return yards and 12.5 yards per punt return with one punt returned for a touchdown while finishing fifth in the league with 645 kick return yards. Jones was named first-team All-Pro as a punt returner by the Associated Press, [22] and he was additionally selected to the PFWA All-Rookie Team. [23]
In Week 2 of the 2023 season, Jones suffered a shoulder injury and was placed on injured reserve on September 22, 2023. [24]
Jones returned in 2024 as the starting slot corner and primary punt returner. He played in 14 games with nine starts, recording 58 tackles, 10 pass deflections, and one interception. [25]
In Week 4 of the 2025 season against the Carolina Panthers, Jones had an 88-yard punt return for a touchdown. Jones broke the franchise single-game record for punt return yards with 167 yards on three returns, set by Mike Haynes' 156 yards in a 1976 game, [26] and was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week. [27]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | TFL | Sck | PD | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2022 | NE | 15 | 4 | 39 | 34 | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 7 | 2 | 87 | 43.5 | 69 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | NE | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | NE | 14 | 9 | 58 | 48 | 10 | 1 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | 35 | 35.0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 0 |
| Career | 31 | 14 | 102 | 86 | 16 | 3 | 0.0 | 17 | 3 | 122 | 40.7 | 69 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 17 | 0 | |
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | Kick returns | Punt returns | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Ret | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Ret | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 2022 | NE | 15 | 4 | 4 | 78 | 19.5 | 48 | 1 | 27 | 645 | 23.9 | 46 | 0 | 29 | 362 | 12.5 | 84 | 1 |
| 2023 | NE | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 7.0 | 21 | 0 |
| 2024 | NE | 14 | 9 | 1 | 18 | 18.0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 26 | 386 | 14.8 | 62 | 0 |
| Career | 31 | 14 | 5 | 96 | 19.2 | 48 | 1 | 27 | 645 | 23.9 | 46 | 0 | 58 | 769 | 13.3 | 84 | 1 | |