Hopes have been excessive for the Patriots’ secondary in latest weeks with their prime three cornerbacks lastly wholesome, however issues haven’t gone in keeping with plan.
For quite a lot of completely different causes, Jonathan Jones, Jack Jones and J.C. Jackson have all shared the sphere on simply two performs this season. It didn’t assist in Sunday’s loss to the Commanders that Jackson and Jack Jones have been seemingly benched for the beginning of the sport.
Shaun Wade, who hadn’t performed since Week 6, began instead of Jackson, who joined the staff through commerce from the Chargers forward of Week 5, and Jack Jones, who missed the primary six weeks of the season as a result of harm. Jackson didn’t enter the sport till the third defensive sequence. Jack Jones didn’t play till the second quarter.
“I wouldn’t say there’s one thing there that — like I feel like the narrative’s a little messed up,” cornerbacks coach Mike Pellegrino mentioned of Jackson and Jack Jones. “Like what did Shaun do to essentially earn that? I feel that’s actually — everybody’s attempting to make it about these two. But actually what did Shaun do to essentially earn that proper?
“And Shaun had a great week of practice, and Shaun played really well. And Shaun did his job. I think the narrative should be more pushed towards what did Shaun do right to earn that opportunity. Because Shaun has done a lot of great things here for us in this past year and is a different player than what he has been in the past. So, my hat’s off to Shaun. He did all of the right things. He got what he deserved.”
The drawback is that Wade performed the primary two defensive sequence after which was barely on the sphere for the rest of the sport. Jonathan Jones, who’s primarily performed exterior this season, and Myles Bryant, the staff’s major slot cornerback, performed the vast majority of the sport.
At one level when the protection was on the sphere, Jack Jones was noticed on the sideline sitting on the Patriots’ bench subsequent to kicker Chad Ryland away from the remainder of the staff’s reserve defenders.
Pellegrino, who coaches from the coaches sales space, mentioned he “didn’t really see that.”
“You can ask Jack about that, but I would say that would be an outlier,” Pellegrino mentioned. “I’ve never seen Jack really on the bench when the defense was up. That must have been something going on for a quick second. I’m not going to speak on it. He can talk about it. I wouldn’t blow it out of proportion. It’s probably just one thing that happened. If it was a consistent thing, would I be concerned? Yeah. But it’s not a consistent thing, so I wouldn’t really hang my hat on that one. That’s not the guy I know.”
As for the obvious benchings, Pellegrino would solely provide “things happen.”
“Just put the guys out there that I felt like were ready to go in that moment,” Pellegrino mentioned. “Everybody is aware of what they should do to play. So, I’ll simply form of go away it at that. It’s actually not — I’m not attempting to create a story. I belief all of my guys. They all went in and performed, proper? I’ve mentioned this from Week 1. If they’re on the sport, meaning they’re prepared, they’re ready, they usually’re prepared to enter the sport. So, I place confidence in all of my guys to go on the market and execute the sport plan and do an incredible job.
“Really just did what I thought was best in that moment. And yeah.”
Jackson and Jack Jones didn’t communicate to reporters after Sunday’s sport. Head coach Bill Belichick mentioned the 2 cornerbacks weren’t benched. Patriots defenders wouldn’t communicate on specifics relating to the scenario.
Source: www.bostonherald.com