The New England Patriots have an open spot on their 53-man roster: as the team announced earlier today, it has waived backup cornerback and punt returner Cyrus Jones. The writing for the move was on the wall after wide receiver Julian Edelman returned from a four-game suspension and immediately took over punt return duties again – relegating Jones to a spot on the inactives list during Thursday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts.
Jones originally joined the Patriots as a second-round draft pick in 2016. After struggling mightily early on during his rookie season on both defense and special teams, and effectively being redshirted afterwards, the Alabama product appeared to be on his way to bounce back one year later.