Patriots fourth-round rookie CB Jack Jones addresses 2018 arrest
Patriots rookie cornerback Jack Jones says he’s eager to look forward.
Not only because he was selected Saturday in the fourth round of the NFL Draft, but because he has a checkered past.
In June 2018, Jones was arrested for allegedly breaking into a Panda Express restaurant in Santa Paula, California, for which he later pleaded guilty to a second-degree misdemeanor charge of commercial burglary and served 45 days of house arrest. The incident followed two seasons at USC, where he initially enrolled as a 5-star recruit. Jones left the school in 2018 after being ruled academically ineligible, and spent the rest of the year at junior college, where he didn’t play football.
In 2019, he enrolled at Arizona State and came off the bench. He was then suspended for the majority of an abbreviated four-game season in 2020, before emerging as one of the Sun Devils’ best players last season. In 2021, he showed terrific ball skills as a starter, snatching three interceptions and batting away six other passes.
Jones, 24, met with the Patriots during the pre-draft process. Asked about how he’s changed since the arrest Saturday in a conference call with reporters, he declined to offer speciics.
“Thank you, but I’m going to focus on my job and I’m going to control what I can control going forward,” Jones said. “I’m looking to be the best teammate I could be and help the Patriots out anywhere that I can.”
What did he learn about himself in the following years at Arizona State?
“I learned from it,” he said. “I’m looking forward to moving forward. I’m not really worried about the past. I’m working on my present right now, what I have going on and controlling what I can control.”
Jones also declined to discuss the strengths of his game, choosing only to say he would play every play like it’s his last. As for where he fits in the Patriots defense, the 5-foot-10, 174-pounder said he’ll go anywhere the coaches tell him.
“I’ve just got to go and try to help the team any way that I can. You know, it doesn’t matter where I’m at,” Jones said. “So, just help the team as much as I can. I can’t really tell you what position, though.”
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/MW0Bcwm
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