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Total tackles:	72
Fumble recoveries:	3
Pass deflections:	11
Interceptions:	3
Return yards:	1,225
Total touchdowns:	3
	Stats at Pro Football Reference

Marcus Jones
No. 25 – New England Patriots
Position:	Cornerback; Punt returner
Personal information
Born:	October 22, 1998 (age 26); Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.
Height:	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight:	188 lb (85 kg)
Career information
High school:	Enterprise (Enterprise, AL)
College:	Troy (2017–2018); Houston (2019–2021);
NFL draft:	2022 / round: 3 / pick: 85
Career history
	New England Patriots (2022–present);
Roster status:	Injured reserve
Career highlights and awards
	First-team All-Pro (2022); NFL punt return yards leader (2022); PFWA All-Rookie Team (2022); Paul Hornung Award (2021); Jet Award (2021); Consensus All-American (2021); AAC Special Teams Player of the Year (2021); Sun Belt Freshman of the Year (2017); 2× First-team All-AAC (2020, 2021); Second-team All-AAC (2021); First-team All-Sun Belt (2018); Second-team All-Sun Belt (2017);
Career NFL statistics as of Week 8, 2024
Total tackles:
Total tackles:	72
Fumble recoveries:	3
Pass deflections:	11
Interceptions:	3
Return yards:	1,225
Total touchdowns:	3
	Stats at Pro Football Reference

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. He was selected by the Patriots in the third round of the 2022 NFL draft.

Early life

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]

College career

Troy

2017 season

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]

2018 season

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]

Houston

2019 season

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.

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]

2021 season

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]

College statistics

Season	GP	Tackles					Interceptions					Fumbles			Kick returns				Punt returns
Season	GP	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

Professional career

Pre-draft

Pre-draft measurables
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]

2022: First-team All-Pro

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, Jones returned a game-winning punt return touchdown for 84 yards with just five seconds remaining in the 10–3 win.^[16] Jones' touchdown was the first punt return touchdown of the entire 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 years to score a touchdown on offense, defense, and special teams in the same season.^[20]

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.^[21] He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.^[22]

2023: Shoulder injury

In Week 2 of the 2023 season, Jones suffered a shoulder injury and was placed on injured reserve on September 22, 2023.^[23]

2024

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.

NFL career statistics

Legend
	Led the league
Bold	Career high

Defense

Year	Team	Games		Tackles					Interceptions						Fumbles
Year	Team	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	0.0	7	2	87	43.5	69	1	1	1	0	0
2023	NE	2	1	5	4	1	0.0	0.0	0	0	0	—	0	0	1	1	0	0
2024	NE	6	4	22	17	5	0.0	0.0	2	1	35	35.0	35	0	1	1	17	0
Career		23	9	66	55	11	2.0	0.0	9	3	122	40.7	69	1	3	3	17	0

Offense and special teams

Year	Team	Games		Receiving					Kick returns					Punt returns
Year	Team	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	6	4	0	0	—	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	11	116	10.5	16	0
Career		23	9	4	78	19.5	48	1	27	645	23.9	46	0	43	499	11.6	84	1