Patriots cornerbacks coach was asked about Jack Jones’s exit from practice, progress of Christian Gonzalez
"It was a great play, and then we had a conversation."
One of the early mysteries of Patriots training camp emerged on Thursday when second-year cornerback Jack Jones suddenly departed an 11-on-11 practice drill following a particularly spirited period of play.
Jones gave up a completion to Kendrick Bourne before angrily discarding hand pads that the defensive backs were wearing. He eventually left the field, but later returned on the sideline. Patriots reporters noted that it seemed like he had been kicked out of practice.
On Friday, Patriot cornerbacks coach Mike Pellegrino was asked by ESPN reporter Mike Reiss about what happened with Jones following the play against Bourne.
“Yeah, it was a great play, and then we had a conversation,” Pellegrino said. “That conversation is personal, and we’re moving on to training camp [day] nine, and watching him grow as each day goes forward.”
Asked a follow-up, Pellegrino reiterated his point.
“The conversations I have with my players are personal, especially in those scenarios like that,” he explained. “It just ended up — you guys all know what happened — but I’m not going to share what we spoke about.”
Regarding another testy moment between offense and defense, Pellegrino was asked by Mike Giardi of Boston Sports Journal about his own temper flaring earlier in the week.
“That’s in the past,” Pellegrino responded. “I’m moving forward from that point on. We’re all competitors out there, and that’s what you love to do. That’s how you grow, you compete against one another. Those guys do a great job every day, in the receiver room. [Defensive backs] do a great job competing, and if you’re not competing, what are you doing on the football field? So moving forward past that, but competitive attitude is always good from both sides.”
On the subject of rookie first-round pick Christian Gonzalez, Pellegrino began by praising all three first-year Patriots cornerbacks.
“It’s been a pleasure to watch all three of those guys grow,” Pellegrino said of Gonzalez, Isaiah Bolden, and Ameer Speed.
“All three of them [are] really smart rookies,” he continued. “They’re all super competitive. Christian grows every day, which is great to see as a coach of a young guy. Christian’s only 21, so it’s great to see him take leaps and bounds every single day. I couldn’t be happier with the way the group is progressing. Not just the rookies, but all the other guys that have been here.”
One of the notable match-ups in training camp has been Gonzalez against DeVante Parker.
Both are bigger, more physical players for their respective positions, creating a useful practice scenario for both offense and defense.
“It’s good conversation with me and Christian every day,” said Pellegrino. “He talks to Parker a lot about certain situations, like hand placement, body weight distribution. He’s learning a lot. Those are mistakes in practice, and you’d rather have them in practice. He’s going to get better. He’s going to learn from them and then do it better in the game. Every mistake is an opportunity to learn from.”
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