Morris County – One matchup you should not sleep on in Foxboro on Sunday is the Jets punt cover unit against New England Patriots punt returner Marcus Jones.
“He was one of, if not, the best punt returner of all-time, again, statistically speaking,” said Jets special team’s coordinator Chris Banjo.
While many would argue Devin Hester is the greatest NFL punter returner of all time, Jones ranks first in NFL history in career punt return average at 14.6-yard per return.
What makes Jones so tough to deal with?
“He’s a slippery dude, he’s hard to tackle,” Banjo said.
Aside from his open field running skills, Banjo gives high marks to Jones for punt returning IQ.
“He’s very, very intentional; very, very ambitious, but very, very responsible by how he goes about making those decisions to when he can be impactful, or when he can say, ‘Hey, I’m just going to wait for the next one,'” Banjo said.
The former University of Houston standout has three punt returns for touchdowns during his five year career.
“I think his total approach back there as a punt returner – he’s really, really good for their team,” Banjo said.
Banjo’s punt coverage team, which has improved the last couple of weeks after a rough stretch, have to make sure that Jones is not “really good for their team” on Sunday.
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