FOXBORO — Patriots new cornerbacks coach Justin Hamilton came away surprised after watching film on cornerback Marcus Jones.
Jones, who’s listed at just 5-foot-8, 175 pounds, brought a different mentality than Hamilton anticipated.
“Watching his tape, saw a more physical player than I expected to see in the tape that I saw,” Hamilton said.
The first-year Patriots cornerbacks coach believes Jones is a good fit for the Patriots in the defensive back room at cornerback or safety.
“In my conversations with him, it’s been a young man that has an older soul and very mature and communicates really well,” Hamilton said.
Extra points
New Patriots outside linebackers coach Mike Smith is best friends with Pats legend Wes Welker. They were freshmen at Texas Tech together and have stayed close ever since. They were best men at each other’s weddings and Smith even named his son after Welker. “I remember when I was coaching for the Jets, we would call him on Tuesday nights, me and Rex (Ryan), ‘We’re gonna put Bart Scott on you, and he’s gonna cover you 1-on-1.” … Hamilton is excited to get to work with cornerbacks Carlton Davis and Christian Gonzalez. “You have two guys that are both at different points in their careers, but both very similar physically. In Carlton’s case, a guy that’s been doing it for a little while now, and in Gonzalez’s case, a guy that kind of took the world by storm a little bit this past year.” … Hamilton also said he sees a little bit of Travis Hunter in Jones, since both players have experience on offense, defense and special teams. Last season, former offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt was unaware that Jones could play on offense until midseason. That doesn’t appear to be an issue with the coaching staff this year. “Coming from (the Colts), having played late in the year up here, that I’m telling the coordinator on the headset, ’25’s in the game, and we’re coaching on defense. So to know what he can do with his hands, on the football, and the return game, I think he’s just an asset for a football team.”
