FOXBORO — It took a text from Marcus Jones to Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt for the three-way player to finally see snaps on offense, and the reason why is simple.
Van Pelt was previously unaware that Jones had been used on offense in 2022 and even dating back to his days in college at Houston and Troy.
“That was the first it had come to my attention that he had played offensive plays, and I’m glad he did,” Van Pelt said Thursday of the text he received from Jones two weeks ago.
“I got a text from Marcus Jones, and I was going back in my mind like, ‘Marcus would just talk to me in the building, I would think’ so I was googling Marcus Joneses and there was a guy who came to Green Bay for a cup of coffee (in 2019), and ‘why would he be texting me?’
“Then one of our coaches came and said Marcus is trying to get ahold of you. Watched 19 plays of his that he’s done here as an offensive player. He obviously brings a lot of juice. Tremendous ball-carrier, speed, his ability to see the field. Try to find some plays just to put our guys in the best position to make plays, and felt like he would give us a little spark. We’ll see how that goes moving forward.”
Jones is one of the top punt returners in the NFL, but he also proved to be an offensive playmaker as a rookie in 2022, when he caught four passes for 78 yards with a 48-yard touchdown. It’s not as if the Patriots’ staff has completely changed since that time, even though head coach Bill Belichick was fired.
Head coach Jerod Mayo, Jones’ position coach, Mike Pellegrino, wide receivers coach Tyler Hughes, safeties coach Brian Belichick, assistant quarterbacks coach/director of game management Evan Rothstein and several members of the front office were with the Patriots in 2022.
Jones called the text a “casual reminder” that he’s always open to
“I like the offensive side, but I’m always a defensive guy,” Jones said. “So you can tell the coach one thing, but that don’t mean it will happen. So I mean, it was great to get back on the offensive side and everything like that, but you just never know. It’s week-to-week.”
By the time Jones had texted Van Pelt two weeks ago, it was too late to fit him into the offensive gameplan against the Bears, so they waited until last Sunday’s 28-22 loss to the Rams. Jones played two snaps and carried the ball once for 5 yards.
The play call was “Zebra 25.” Wide receiver Kendrick Bourne thought Jones was going to score a 38-yard touchdown.
“Always want guys that are self-starters, want to be part of it, so appreciative for him to offer his duties up to us on the offensive side,” Van Pelt said.
Jones is not the only defensive player who offers up his versatility, though Van Pelt usually turns players down.
The Patriots have shown more willingness to get creative on both sides of the ball. Special-teams ace played a key role spying Bears quarterback Caleb Williams two weeks ago. And left tackle Vederian Lowe caught a touchdown pass from quarterback Drake Maye on Sunday after being declared eligible. It appeared the Patriots were ready to run a trick play against the Rams before wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk was penalized for jumping offsides as the play clock hit :00.
“He’s obviously got a special skill set,” Van Pelt said of Jones. “His return game is as good as there is, so as many times as we can use him and put the ball in his hands or maybe use him as a decoy, we’ll see,” Van Pelt said. “But he does bring some value. After last week’s game, really excited about moving forward with him.”
Patriots defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington compared Jones to University of Colorado wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter, who’s in contention for the Heisman Trophy for playing 590 snaps on offense and 586 snaps on defense this season as one of the best players in the nation at both positions.
“People talk about Travis Hunter. That’s Marcus,” Covington said. “He did that in college too.”
Jones caught 15 passes for 137 yards with a touchdown during his college career.
“Him doing that, that’s crazy, especially all the snaps and everything, playing both sides,” Jones said of Hunter. “I wasn’t the first Travis. Jabrill Peppers was at Michigan. He was playing all over the place. And then I did it when I was in college a little bit. Kudos to him and everything, and I hope he’ll be able to do it in the league and everything like that as much as he can for sure.”
If the Patriots are picking high enough in the 2025 NFL Draft, it’s possible that Jones and Hunter could be teammates next season. The Patriots could use help at wide receiver and cornerback.