New England Patriots - NESN.com
The Patriots threw a wrinkle in their gameplan on Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams.
New England incorporated cornerback Marcus Jones on a pair of offensive snaps in the third quarter, lining him up in the slot on two boomerang motions that ended one handoff for five yards and a decoy to help set up a screen pass to Rhamondre Stevenson.
Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt was originally credited with the plan, but it didn’t actually come about until he received a text from Jones.
Yes, it’s apparently that easy.
“I got a text from Marcus Jones,” Van Pelt admitted on Thursday, per Alex Barth of 98.5 The Sports Hub. “I always want guys that are self-starters, and I’m really appreciative of him for that.”
Van Pelt admitted that he originally didn’t know who was texting him, before a defensive coach relayed the message that Jones wanted to chat. The Patriots’ first-year coordinator then went back and watched film, before deciding it was a pretty good idea to get the 26-year-old involved.
“It was great. I want to say it started at the beginning of the week and went on from there,” Jones said after Sunday’s game. “It was great. It was great to hear they wanted to do that and being able to do it was a blessing.”
Jones’ history on offense goes back to college, but he’s sparingly been used on that side of the ball since coming to New England. Jones only took one offensive snap last year but he was a difference-maker for the Patriots’ offense back in 2022, scoring on one of his 18 total offensive snaps over the last five games of the regular season.
New England might want to roll him back out there moving forward.
