Understanding Jack Jones’s abrupt departure from Patriots practice originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Jack Jones attracted more attention on Thursday, and not in a good way.
The New England Patriots cornerback walked off the field during an 11-on-11 session of the team’s training camp practice outside Gillette Stadium, according to multiple reports. According to our Phil Perry, Jones appeared “upset” after he busted a pass intended for wide receiver Kendrick Bourne and went to the locker room shortly after.
Defensive defenders Shaun Wade and Jabrill Peppers both spoke to Jones as he left the field, while cornerbacks coach Mike Pellegrino also had a brief chat with the 25-year-old cornerback.
Jones returned to the practice field with full pads about 20 minutes later, per Perry and Tom E. Curran, but did not participate in any more drills. He talked to Patriots director of personnel, Matt Groh, and Jalen Mills, but otherwise kept to himself.
It’s unclear exactly what led to Jones’ abrupt departure, and his return to training later suggests it was uninjury-related and he may not have been kicked out of the session. However, as Perry and Curran pointed out in their post-training video breakdown, Jones’ departure on Thursday still doesn’t bode well for a player who has a trial scheduled for August 18 following an arrest on gun charges in June when he attempted to two unlicensed firearms through security at Logan Airport.
“He’s an important player for them,” said Perry. “You have to be on your P’s and Q’s as much as possible given the situation he’s facing. If you’re the team, how do you react to what you saw today?”
“Has he checked in?” added Curran. “If this is an aberration, then you just say, ‘What happened today? Are you okay?’ If it’s not an anomaly, then you have to look at it through a different lens and make decisions about, ‘Okay, how much can we rely on (someone who is) potentially a really good player for us, and how do we reach him?’ Or how do we say, ‘OK, raise the white flag?'”
Watch Curran and Perry’s full breakdown of Jones’ camp exit and more in the Patriots Training Camp Central video below.
