Marcus Jones’ ‘ruthless,’ record-setting day sparks Patriots in rout of Panthers

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Marcus Jones’ ‘ruthless,’ record-setting day sparks Patriots in rout of Panthers



FOXBORO — Sunday wound up being a banner day for the Patriots’ offense and defense. But midway through the first quarter of their beatdown of the Panthers, both of those units were scuffling.

Carolina opened the game with a seven-play, 76-yard touchdown drive. New England followed with a three-and-out. Mike Vrabel’s squad needed a spark.

Enter Marcus Jones.

After the Panthers’ second possession stalled out, Jones fielded Sam Martin’s punt deep in his own territory, slithered his way around four would-be tacklers and raced 87 yards for a touchdown.

The Patriots dominated from that point forward, scoring six consecutive touchdowns en route to a 42-13 rout at Gillette Stadium.

“I think that’s what we’ve been looking for,” Vrabel said postgame. “I talked about that throughout training camp and how those return units need to be a weapon for us. We’ve got the one kickoff return (touchdown in Week 2), but to be able to do that on the punt return, fantastic effort by Marcus and everybody else out there. I think a lot of that was just his own individual will, skill and effort.

“Again, that has to be a weapon. It was something that we felt like could be through this season and getting ready for this year.”

New England wasn’t setting up for a big-play return in that moment — Vrabel sent out his punt-safe “gray team,” which featured big-bodied defensive tackles Milton Williams and Khyris Tonga — and multiple teammates seemed surprised when Jones did not call for a fair catch with two Panthers coverage players bearing down on him.

Why didn’t he?

“I’m pretty ruthless back there,” Jones said, smiling.

For good reason.

“The guy is electric,” special teamer Brenden Schooler said. “We’re out there in our safe punt return, just based off down and distance and where they were on the field, and (it was) him just being Marcus. Just fielding the ball, making a couple guys miss … and then just seeing him taking off down the field. Then it was just a dead sprint trying to catch up to him.”

Schooler was involved in the other punt-return touchdown Jones scored for the Patriots: the last-second, walk-off score that beat the New York Jets in 2022. Jones’ play-making ability is well-documented — he also has receiving and interception return touchdowns on his resume — but entering Sunday, the 5-foot-8 dynamo hadn’t found the end zone in any phase since his rookie season, when he made first-team All-Pro as a returner.

“To have such a dynamic returner like him back there, it’s a threat, even when we’re in our safe punt return,” Schooler said. “Most teams will just fair-catch it, take the ball where you get it. But to have a guy like that who’s going to make one or two guys miss every time, and then just rely on us (blockers) to just be in the way, essentially, it’s awesome to have him back there.”

The 87-yard scamper wasn’t Jones’ only big gain against Carolina. He also ripped off a 61-yard punt return in the second quarter, racing from sideline to sideline and breaking three tackles before Martin tripped him up at the 14-yard line.

Though humbling — Jones said he’s sure his teammates are “going to say some stuff about me in the meeting rooms” about his failure to get past the punter — that return gave the Patriots’ offense prime field position. Antonio Gibson — one of six Patriots touchdown-scorers on the day — plunged in four plays later to put New England ahead 28-6.

“Marcus Jones, can’t say enough about him,” quarterback Drake Maye said. “Shoot, he’s the best in the game at it.”

A 19-yard runback late in the third quarter springboarded yet another Patriots touchdown drive — and cemented Jones’ place in the Patriots’ record books. His 165 punt-return yards were a single-game franchise record, surpassing the previous high of 157 set by Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Haynes. He also became just the second Patriot since the NFL/AFL merger to record multiple punt returns of 60-plus yards in the same game, joining Gunner Olszewski. His four career 60-plus-yard runbacks are tied with Julian Edelman for the most in team history.

“I’m glad to end up sparking the team and kind of going from there,” Jones said.

Vrabel hopes Jones continues to bring that type of game-changing quick-strike ability to New England’s punt return team. Though the Patriots have been effective on kickoff returns this season — headlined by Gibson’s Week 2 touchdown that helped them beat the Dolphins — they came into Sunday ranked 23rd in the NFL in average yards per punt return (8.8).

“He’s not the biggest player, but he’s got great play strength with the football in his hand,” the head coach said. “He’s got great vision, and you have to be fearless at some level to catch that punt and know that you’re going to make the first guy miss. We’re confident in that. It’s just a natural skill. It’s hard to teach. It’s hard to teach with all those bodies in traffic and catching it first and making great decisions with it back there.

“It’s a lot of comfort with him back there, and we need to continue to make it a weapon.”



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