Devin McCourty was in the process of singing Marcus Jones’ praises – until he saw the New England Patriots returner get tackled by a punter.
During an early punt return against the Minnesota Vikings, the broadcast team of Devin McCourty and his twin brother Jason McCourty were in the process of talking up the 2022 All-Pro punt returner. However, the praise stopped when Jones was tackled by, of all people, punter Ryan Wright.
That led to the following exchange in the Patriots preseason TV booth:
Jason McCourty: “Marcus Jones, Dev you call him what?”
Devin McCourty: “The most electric and dynamic guy – Oh, he’s got to make a better move on the punter. I’m all over Marcus Jones after the game.”
You can watch Jones’ return here.
It was a terrific return by Jones, who found a seam in the coverage and shot downfield. The McCourty twins credited linebacker Christian Elliss and running back JaMycal Hasty for clean blocks on the return
However, Jones wasn’t home free. The Vikings coverage team was doing a decent job of recovering and pinching Jones to the sidelines.
Jones’ only option was to try and slip past Wright on the sideline. However, the punter managed to shove Jones out of bounds and stop the damage.
As color commentator Scott Zolak noted, Jones "knew he had somebody on his back,” which prevented the returner from reversing field and eluding the punter.
There was a legitimate football reason for Jones getting tackled by one of the least athletic guys on the field. But that didn’t stop the McCourty twins from having fun with it.
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