Musket Fire Patriots Roundtable: Training Camp Week 2
With the onset of real football, we here at Musket Fire are reintroducing our weekly New England Patriots roundtable discussion. Joining the chat this week are site editors Connor Fulton and Cyrus Geller, veteran site voice Hal Bent, and our newest addition to the staff, James Coughlin.
Welcome James to the site by giving this piece your attention for a few minutes in another tab. Alright, let’s get to the meat of it:
"Connor Fulton: I’m a big fan of Cyrus Jones, and I think he could be a godsend for the Patriots if he could take some of the punt returning duties off the hands of Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola. What do you think? Will Jones’ quick feet in the open field transfer into the pros?"
Cyrus Geller: First off, what a name this kid has! But in all seriousness, I absolutely love the potential Jones has, and I think he will really help New England not only in the return game by taking some of the pressure off of Edelman and Amendola, but also in the sub-packages on defense. The Patriots have two solid corners on the outside in Malcolm Butler and Logan Ryan, but they now also have a plethora of depth in the slot as well. Between Jones, Justin Coleman and Darryl Roberts, New England is stacked at corner for the 2016 season.
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Hal Bent: Definitely. Jones has those fluid hips and quick-twitch quickness that the Patriots love in their cornerbacks and in the return game. His short size is an advantage on punt and kick returns allowing him to be low to the ground and avoid devastating hits. In certain situations Belichick has shown he prefers to have the sure hands and sound decision-making of his veteran wide receivers back returning punts, but that quickness that showed-up in the three-cone drill in the offseason will translate on the field in the return game with Cyrus Jones.
James Coughlin: It looks like Jones will have a chance to make an immediate impact in the return game and from what I’ve seen, he has the skills to do that. My only hesitation about making him the full time punt returner is whether or not it will stunt his development as a corner. I feel like he would be best served being a part time returner taking maybe half the opportunities. Send Amendola out when you need a safe pair of hands to fair catch it and Edelman when you need something big.
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