How Jack Jones Has Made a Good Early Impression

However, that aggressiveness comes with some downsides. While Jones’ ball production was good last season, he gave up eight touchdowns in coverage and had a passer rating allowed of 98.5. Sometimes, Jones is just too aggressive for his own good. 

“As he gets more familiar and comfortable with the scheme, you can see he understands where he can take his shots and then to kind of curtail that into, ‘OK, now you have got to reel it in a little bit and then here you can let him take a shot,’ ” Slowik said. “It's been fun to see and just him being able to show his skill set in those situations, I'm excited for him, and I'm excited for us that we added him.” 

Finding a balance between his playmaking and maintaining his scheme responsibilities will be the biggest challenge for Jones. 

If he can strike even a little bit of a balance, it’s hard not to see him as a favorite to start at outside cornerback in Week 1 over players like Cam Smith, Ethan Bonner, Isaiah Johnson, Jason Marshall Jr., and Kendall Sheffield. 

Jones’ Off-Field History 

Talent has never been an issue for Jones, but he’s run into some off-the-field troubles throughout his football career. 

Jones was benched before a game against Washington in 2023 for missing curfew and was subsequently cut by the team. 

In 2023, he was also arrested trying to board a flight at Boston’s Logan Airport with multiple firearms. In 2018, he was arrested at a Panda Express in Santa Paula, California, for commercial burglary. 

He pleaded guilty and served 45 days of house arrest. The Patriots also suspended him for two games in his rookie season for a violation of team rules about injury disclosure.

Jones stood out of trouble last season, and Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver is happy with how Jones has conducted himself in Miami so far. 

“I love Jack Jones,” Weaver told reporters Monday. “And my only message to him was, be yourself, and go out there and be a great teammate. And if you do that, the rest of the things take care of themselves now, and being a great teammate, that means you gotta handle your responsibilities off the field, right?” 

“You can't be in chaos off of it, and then expect to come in here and be in alignment with what we're trying to do. And everything he's promised he would do, he's done today.”

Weaver’s message to Jones doesn’t seem like it fell on deaf ears, either. 

“I like [defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver],” Jones said in a late-July interview. “The first day I came in, I had a long meeting with him. He told me about what he expects and what the team’s about, and I like him. I feel like me and him match.”

Jones’ on-and-off-field profile carries some risk, but there’s a lot of upside, too. He was solid as a rookie and excellent with the Raiders during the second half of the 2023 season. 

Given his age (27), Jones could be a long-term piece for the Dolphins. That is incredibly appealing because the Dolphins' cornerback need isn’t going anywhere. 

If Jones can find his balance, perhaps the Dolphins will need one less cornerback next season.