Youthquake: Jones, Wise help spark Patriots' defense in win

NEW ORLEANS — At first glance, two reasons jumped out as to why the Patriots found success on the defensive side of the ball in Sunday's 36-20 win over the Saints.



One, the youngsters had themselves a big day. Cornerback Jonathan Jones came through with a pair of pass breakups. Defensive end Deatrich Wise continued to impress and build on his growing reputation. Defensive lineman Adam Butler looked impressive playing a variety of spots up and down the line, all the way from over the nose to out to defensive end. And Elandon Roberts had a team-high eight tackles.

With some of them pressed into service because of injury and some because of matchups, it came as no surprise to some of the veterans on the team.

“We expect it. We’ve been at it since April,” said safety Devin McCourty. “I think guys expect that. We work hard in practice. Things are dialed up. Guys are in there in practice.

“It’s good to see when guys get the opportunity, (to) see them do it during the week and it pays off on Sunday.”

The defensive backs were particularly happy for Jones, who made his bones over the last year-plus as a special teams ace but played a sizable amount of nickel on Sunday against New Orleans.

“(Jonathan) Jones has been playing good ball all camp, and for him to go out there ... I don’t think there was anyone moire excited than me,” said safety Duron Harmon. “Every time he made a play, I was over there. It just lets you know, we’re a deep team, we’re a team where everybody will come out and continue to do their job, and get the job done.”

“He’s not a guy who’s just standing on the sidelines, waiting,” McCourty said of Jones. “He’s one of our top kickoff guys. Punt. He’s on everything. For him to be able to step in and play the nickel and still do everything on special teams, he made a lot of big plays.

“Between Wise and Butler up front, those guys have been playing at a good level for us since they came into training camp. It’s just good to see that pay off. That was big for us today. To go against a good quarterback. I thought we did a good job between coverage and rush at times. That helped us.”

The other thing that helped the defense was an added sense of stability. There wasn’t as much mixing and matching on the back end as there was over the first week. That continuity was key when it came to preventing breakdowns and improving communication.

“We wanted to simplify things this week, “ Harmon said. “I think the coaching staff did a good job of that, just getting guys lined up and playing fast and physical.”

It also led to plenty of positive moments, especially against the best third-down offense in the game last season, a unit that was held to just 33 percent on Sunday.

“(Third-down stops) were a key for us,” Bill Belichick said. “That’s a tough offense to stop. They have a lot of good players that are very well-coached and a great quarterback. Anytime you can get them off the field or even let them get down into the red area and hold them to a field goal, it’s a good job by the defense.”