The New England Patriots made two roster moves on Wednesday morning, per The Athletic’s Jeff Howe. The Patriots signed cornerback Cyrus Jones off the Baltimore Ravens practice squad and released running back Kenjon Barner to make space.
Jones entered the NFL as a second round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft by the...New England Patriots! This is a homecoming of sorts for the defensive back who battled through injuries and fumbles in his first stint with the team. Maybe he’ll have a Patrick Chung-type renaissance in his return.
The Patriots must not have felt comfortable with Barner as a returnman and saw an opportunity to improve the roster. It could be argued that Jones is here to compete at cornerback since Eric Rowe was benched in week two, but we have yet to see rookies Keion Crossen or J.C. Jackson active on game day.
Perhaps the Patriots wanted to add a veteran defensive back with experience in the Patriots system and his added value as a returnman made Jones a perfect choice.
Bets of luck to Cyrus. I’ll be curious to see where he lands on the depth chart with Stephon Gilmore, Jason McCourty, Jonathan Jones, Rowe, Crossen, and Jackson.
On another note, the Patriots are interested in bringing wide receiver Corey Coleman to the practice squad per NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo, so Jace Billingsley’s return could be a short one.