Marcus Jones (cornerback)

Marcus Elliot Jones (born October 22, 1998) is an American football cornerback 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 years
Jones grew up in Enterprise, Alabama and attended Enterprise High School, where he played basketball and football. 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.

Troy
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.

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.

Houston
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. He sat out one season and redshirt due to NCAA transfer rules, maintaining his junior status for the 2020 season.

Jones had 24 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, and one interception on defense during his redshirt junior season in 2020. 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.

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. To cap off the season he won the Paul Hornung Award, given to the nation's most versatile player, and was selected to the Associated Press All-America first-team as a defensive back. 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.

2022: First-team All-Pro
Jones was selected by the New England Patriots in the third round (85th overall) of the 2022 NFL draft.

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. Jones' touchdown was the first punt return touchdown of the entire 2022 season. 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. 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.

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.

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

NFL career statistics

 * Defense


 * Offense and special teams