Jones looking to bounce back after rough finish to rookie year

FOXBOROUGH — Cyrus Jones is one of only a handful of players in recent football history to follow up a national championship as a collegian with a Super Bowl win in his first season in the NFL.

But it was a wildly bittersweet ending to last year for the Alabama product, as the cornerback and special teamer struggled down the stretch and into the postseason -- particularly in the return game. Things got so bad that he was left inactive for five of the last six games of the year, including the Super Bowl.

He told the Baltimore Sun this offseason that at one point in his rookie year, he felt “cursed,” and that he just didn’t want to play anymore, adding that he wanted no part of being acknowledged as a world champion.



"I'll never take credit for something I don't feel I contributed to," he said. "I was part of the team, but I didn't feel a part of it."

For the former All-American who was a standout return man with the Crimson Tide, it was one of the first times he had to endure real struggle on the football field. It left him at a career crossroads this offseason, one that forced him into some introspection.

“I just think any time you endure failure, it can do one of two things: it can hold you back, or it can motivate you to not have that feeling again,” he told Bostonsportsjournal.com following Wednesday’s workout. “That’s what I’m trying to do — just come out and not really think about what happened last year. At the same time, I know what I have to do to be a consistent player and help this team win.”

This past offseason, the second-round pick leaned on family and close friends in an attempt to rebuild some of that shattered confidence.

“They’re just helping me stay focused and realize even though I have had struggle, it’s not the end of the world,” he said. “I’m still in a blessed situation. I still get to play the game of football and get paid to do it. My career isn’t over. I still have a lot more games to play and I still have a lot of things I can do to help out this team. That’s what I’m trying to focus on.

“A lot of this is about confidence, and pretty much not trying to make it too big of a situation,” he added. “Just realizing this is something I’ve been doing my entire life. Just realizing that the ball didn’t change.”

This summer, Jones has been part of a rotation at cornerback, working alongside Malcolm Butler and Stephon Gilmore. (In the wake of the Julian Edelman/Gilmore fight at the end of practice Tuesday, Jones stepped in on the outside in place of Gilmore.) While it’s still relatively early, he’s still in the conversation when you’re talking about possibilities to play the role of either third or slot corner. And he’s also spent plenty of time working as a returner in a group that includes Edelman -- he’s been diligent about post-practice work, as he’s collaborated with punter Ryan Allen to get as many return reps as possible at the tail end of each practice.

Jones also switched up numbers, going from No. 24 to No. 41 after the acquisition of Gilmore. Is it a case of new year, new digits, new mindset?

“I guess you could say that, from the outside looking in. But I still have the same mindset this year, before we even picked Stephon up. That didn’t really have anything to do with it,” he said. “Just trying not to overthink it. Just come out here and prepare the way I need to prepare every day. Then, that makes the game easy.”