Will Cyrus Jones make this team

[turkeyneck]

Richards' future in football is as a coach. He's got no chance in the NFL with his lack of speed.

C. Jones at safety gives me the willies. Regardless of how athletic he may be, he has shown zero or negative decision-making ability. I don't want him as the last line of defense on a crucial play. In your imagination, substitute C Jones for Harmon, McCourty or Butler in the last 5 minutes of the Sea SB. Scary, huh?

 

[long distance]

Jones was very careful with the football and stayed on script in following his blockers (who didn't appear to be capable of opening any seams for him). He was also very good about staying far away from risky punts and waving off his teammates.

There are a lot of things to criticize about Jones, but his performance in the return game last night isn't among them.

Yes. Cy was very careful w the football. And that is a problem. And not a small one. The problem was he was visibly very careful. Carefulness was like a cross he was carrying instead of the ball. The problem is that kind of carefulness is not carefulness anymore - its fear.

He seemed hesitant in every play of the game he was making (that was my strong impression from live game, didn't watch any replays yet). His attitude was not to make a play - it was not to make a mistake. He played scared. Scared of making mistakes. And thats one of the more fertile grounds for mistakes.

He looks like he has no confidence (that's also why he looks slower then he did in college). As said before, mental problems are much more difficult to mend than physical or technical problems.
___

I have a feeling they will find a way to keep him for another year. I actually liked the idea of keeping him on the field and putting him at safety.

I was surprised they were pushing him outside most of the time in trainings because I think thats not his position to succeed or gain confidence. Thinking about it maybe they really are thinking of him as a work in progress, having patience with “forcing“ him to play different positions to better prepare him for what they might have in mind next year (slot? FS? SS?). That might very well be wishful thinking but he would not be the first player they used similar approach. It would surely be a luxury approach to have a 2nd rounder not contributing for 2 years. Then again they did that with Richards..

I didn't see him much in coverage plays on ST. That could be the best place to get some good feelings and gain some confidence. BB obviously believes in hard way. To me remains interesting case to monitor..

 

[Kontradiction]

The first touchdown was on him. He just absolutely got torched. He also looked like he got beat on the ******** DPI call. Hard to tell whether or not it was his fault on the second touchdown. Based on the replay they showed, he looked like he was expecting the safety to shade over to his side but the safety was taking a route underneath until he saw Jones' man break free. That was either on Jones or the safety. If I had to guess, based on Patricia's face palm, my guess would be on Jones. But it's still just a guess.

If I had to call it right now I'd say no, he won't make the team. He's been awful on both defense and special teams so far and he was also a liability in college until his senior season. That said, it's also preseason week 1 and it COULD change. But he looks like a guy that's in his own head. That's still thinking too much instead of reacting.

 

[Kontradiction]

Ridiculous to watch Giardi and Fleger roast this kid when the 2nd TD was the fault of the safety.......and they know it.

That being said, I have to say he didn't look quick or explosive during those plays

How do you know it was the fault of the safety, Ken? Genuinely curious. I wasn't sure whether the safety or Jones blew the assignment on that play (see my post before this one).

 

[DarrylS]

Tom Curran tweeted, paraphrased...

"Not sure if Cyrus Jones is responsible for all that happened, but a lot of **** happens in his zip code."

 

[PatsBoy12]

He probably will because of where he was drafted, but the guy blows. I said from the start of TC that I would not be surprised at all to see him cut, though. I want him cut to be honest. He has shown very little to this point to merit a roster spot, especially when you have a guy like Austin Carr doing what he's doing. I think the team should cut its losses with Cyrus and let him sink or swim somewhere else. They waited too long to do that with Dobson. I don't want to have to be arguing about Cyrus Jones another TC. Just let him go now.

 

[Love The Drake]

Sick we could of kept Roberts and Leblanc for Jones and Richards.

 

[Kontradiction]

They thought he was a bad pick for one reason or another. I remember some of them talking about how he was the one who got picked on even at Alabama, because he wasn't very good, and that they didn't think he'd cut it in the NFL. You're the one assigning a mental issue to his current state. You might be correct, but that doesn't make the opinion of others mere hindsight.

Jones was the one Cardale Jones specifically picked on in the Alabama/Ohio State game in 2015. He improved quite a bit in his senior season but Saban also very rarely left him on an island that season and gave him a generous amount of safety help up top. My guess was they were planning on playing him as a nickel corner to minimize his weaknesses but, even then, it's been hard not to project him to suck. He was getting tooled by guys that will be off NFL rosters in a few weeks.

 

[maineman209]

Yes. Cy was very careful w the football. And that is a problem. And not a small one. The problem was he was visibly very careful. Carefulness was like a cross he was carrying instead of the ball. The problem is that kind of carefulness is not carefulness anymore - its fear.

He seemed hesitant in every play of the game he was making (that was my strong impression from live game, didn't watch any replays yet). His attitude was not to make a play - it was not to make a mistake. He played scared. Scared of making mistakes. And thats one of the more fertile grounds for mistakes.

He looks like he has no confidence (that's also why he looks slower then he did in college). As said before, mental problems are much more difficult to mend than physical or technical problems.
___

I have a feeling they will find a way to keep him for another year. I actually liked the idea of keeping him on the field and putting him at safety.

I was surprised they were pushing him outside most of the time in trainings because I think thats not his position to succeed or gain confidence. Thinking about it maybe they really are thinking of him as a work in progress, having patience with “forcing“ him to play different positions to better prepare him for what they might have in mind next year (slot? FS? SS?). That might very well be wishful thinking but he would not be the first player they used similar approach. It would surely be a luxury approach to have a 2nd rounder not contributing for 2 years. Then again they did that with Richards..

I didn't see him much in coverage plays on ST. That could be the best place to get some good feelings and gain some confidence. BB obviously believes in hard way. To me remains interesting case to monitor..

I didn't see Jones' carefulness as "fear". I saw it as him following coaching instructions to the letter - focusing on fundamentals and not trying to get creative.

I honestly don't think Jones was moved to deep safety late in the game because he "failed" at boundary corner. I think it's because whoever else they'd had deployed at deep safety in the game sucked way worse at their job.

 

[Kontradiction]

I didn't see Jones' carefulness as "fear". I saw it as him following coaching instructions to the letter - focusing on fundamentals and not trying to get creative.

I honestly don't think Jones was moved to deep safety late in the game because he "failed" at boundary corner. I think it's because whoever else they'd had deployed at deep safety in the game sucked way worse at their job.

Jordan Richards. Too slow to play safety, to small to play backer. He is what many of us said he was as soon as he got drafted: too unathletic to play in the league. He sounds like he should be a pretty good coach one day, though.

 

[maineman209]

The first touchdown was on him. He just absolutely got torched. He also looked like he got beat on the ******** DPI call. Hard to tell whether or not it was his fault on the second touchdown. Based on the replay they showed, he looked like he was expecting the safety to shade over to his side but the safety was taking a route underneath until he saw Jones' man break free. That was either on Jones or the safety. If I had to guess, based on Patricia's face palm, my guess would be on Jones. But it's still just a guess.

If I had to call it right now I'd say no, he won't make the team. He's been awful on both defense and special teams so far and he was also a liability in college until his senior season. That said, it's also preseason week 1 and it COULD change. But he looks like a guy that's in his own head. That's still thinking too much instead of reacting.

I'd say that the catch of the first TD was unquestionably on Jones. But the score? There wasn't another Pats defender within a mile of the play. That means that Jones had been left on an island. I very much doubt that was by design.

 

[Kontradiction]

I'd say that the catch of the first TD was unquestionably on Jones. But the score? There wasn't another Pats defender within a mile of the play. That means that Jones had been left on an island. I very much doubt that was by design.

The Patriots leave their corners on an island during the regular season and they typically use the preseason to assess a player's strengths and weaknesses. The safety looked like he had man coverage on that play and had another assignment. Jones was man to man with his guy and just got absolutely torched. And, even if he WAS expecting safety help, as a corner you're not supposed to be 8 yards behind your man on the 9-route. That was absolutely on him and it was embarrassing to watch. I can't even imagine what it was like for him to actually live it knowing how bad his rookie season went.

 

[maineman209]

Jordan Richards. Too slow to play safety, to small to play backer. He is what many of us said he was as soon as he got drafted: too unathletic to play in the league. He sounds like he should be a pretty good coach one day, though.

I didn't see Richards positioned as the deep safety at all. I only saw him lined up in the box. I thought it was mostly Thompson back there.

FWIW, Richards' measured size and testing numbers are pretty close to what Chung's were, IIRC.

 

[Froob]

This seems accurate



Open road to the endzone

 

[maineman209]

The Patriots leave their corners on an island during the regular season and they typically use the preseason to assess a player's strengths and weaknesses. The safety looked like he had man coverage on that play and had another assignment. Jones was man to man with his guy and just got absolutely torched. And, even if he WAS expecting safety help, as a corner you're not supposed to be 8 yards behind your man on the 9-route. That was absolutely on him and it was embarrassing to watch. I can't even imagine what it was like for him to actually live it knowing how bad his rookie season went.

I was talking about the first TD. Jones was right with the receiver until he turned his head and lost the ball at the moment of the catch. The receiver (Keelan Cole, who's very quick) then broke away and Jones didn't recover.

It was the second TD where Jones was trailing his guy by a substantial margin before the catch.

 

[IllegalContact]

Cyrus Jones is cursed....he was getting burned by nobodies

 

[Kontradiction]

I didn't see Richards positioned as the deep safety at all. I only saw him lined up in the box. I thought it was mostly Thompson back there.

FWIW, Richards' measured size and testing numbers are pretty close to what Chung's were, IIRC.

Probably should have specified that they weren't going to move Richards to deep safety over trying someone else out. That actually speaks volumes to how bad Richards is.

 

[Kontradiction]

I was talking about the first TD. Jones was right with the receiver until he turned his head and lost the ball at the moment of the catch. The receiver (Keelan Cole, who's very quick) then broke away and Jones didn't recover.

It was the second TD where Jones was trailing his guy by a substantial margin before the catch.

He shouldn't have been turning his head at all at that point. That's the problem. And yes, he got torched on the first and second touchdown. Only the second touchdown I'm not quite sure who should get the lion's share of the blame without knowing the defensive play call. I can only go by Patricia's reaction and guess it's Jones.

 

[maineman209]

I can only go by Patricia's reaction and guess it's Jones.

That's kind of an assumption. Patricia's facepalm could just as easily have been in reaction to the deep coverage safety making the wrong read - again.

 

[Kontradiction]

That's kind of an assumption. Patricia's facepalm could just as easily have been in reaction to the deep coverage safety making the wrong read - again.

I'll ask you the same question I asked Ken: How do you know it was the safety, and not Jones, that made the wrong read for sure?