Cyrus Diego Jones Jr. (born November 29, 1993) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

and

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

. He was drafted by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

in the second round of the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

. He has also played for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

and

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

Early years

Jones was born in Baltimore and attended elementary school at the Leith Walk Elementary/Middle School in northeast Baltimore. He played football and baseball in the Northwood neighborhood, also in northeast Baltimore. Jones attended

Gilman School Gilman School is an all-boys independent school located in the Roland Park neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. There are three school divisions: Lower School, grades pre-kindergarten through five; Middle School, grades six through eight; and Upp ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. He played cornerback, wide receiver, and

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

for the Greyhounds. As a senior, he had 2,365 all-purpose yards and 24

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

on offense and five

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

on defense. Jones committed to the

to play college football.

College career

Jones played at Alabama from 2012 to 2015. Jones played wide receiver as a freshman in 2012, catching four passes for 51 yards. Prior to his sophomore year in 2013, he moved to cornerback. He played in 11 games with five starts that season and had 25 tackles, two interceptions and one sack. As a junior in 2014, he played in all 14 games and had 46 tackles and three interceptions. As a senior, he played in all 15 games and had 37 tackles and two interceptions. He also was Alabama's

punt returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

, returning 42 punts for 530 yards and four touchdowns. Jones was the Defensive MVP of the 2015 Cotton Bowl after intercepting a redzone pass from

Connor Cook Connor Cook (born January 29, 1993) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans and was their starting quarterback from 2013 to 2015. He holds the record for most career wins at Michigan ...

with 18 seconds left in the second half to halt Michigan State's momentum and preserve Alabama's eventual 38-0 shutout of the Spartans. In addition, he returned a punt for a touchdown in the victory.

Collegiate statistics

Defensive statistics

Return statistics

Professional career

New England Patriots

Jones was drafted by the

in the second round (60th overall) of the

. Jones finished his rookie regular season with seven tackles, no pass deflections, and no interceptions. Jones was an occasional return specialist; his returns gained 180 yards, but he also fumbled five times. He played in 10 games during the regular season. On February 5, 2017, Jones's Patriots appeared in

Super Bowl LI Super Bowl LI was an American football game played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017, to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2016 NFL season, 2016 season. The American Football Confer ...

. He was inactive for the game as the Patriots defeated the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

by a score of 34–28 in overtime. In the Patriots' final preseason game of 2017, Jones suffered a torn ACL and partially torn meniscus and was ruled out for the season. He was officially placed on injured reserve on September 2, 2017. On September 1, 2018, Jones was waived by the Patriots.

Baltimore Ravens

On September 3, 2018, Jones was signed to the

' practice squad.

New England Patriots (second stint)

On September 19, 2018, the Patriots re-signed Jones off Baltimore's practice squad. He was waived on October 6, 2018.

Baltimore Ravens (second stint)

On October 8, 2018, Jones was claimed off waivers by the Baltimore Ravens. In Week 12, Jones returned a punt for a 70-yard touchdown in a 34-17 win over the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

, earning him AFC Special Teams Player of the Week. He was released on November 12, 2019.

Denver Broncos

On November 13, 2019, Jones was claimed off waivers by the

. He was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list on November 26, 2019.

Personal life

Jones earned the nickname "Clamp Clampington", which was given for his shutdown corner abilities, while at Alabama.

References

External links

*
Alabama Crimson Tide bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Cyrus 1993 births Living people Players of American football from Baltimore American football cornerbacks American football wide receivers American football return specialists Alabama Crimson Tide football players New England Patriots players Baltimore Ravens players Denver Broncos players