The Patriots officially placed star wide receiver A.J. Brown on injured reserve on Saturday, opening a roster spot to sign veteran defensive tackle DaQuan Jones. Jones is joining his fourth NFL team in 13 seasons, following a four-year stint with the Bills.
As a fourth-round pick out of Penn State for the Titans in 2014, Jones got off to a slow start when he came into the league. He only appeared in seven games as a rookie, earning his first career start in the team’s season finale. He’s enjoyed status as a full-time starter ever since, logging 160 starts since that day. Jones spent seven seasons in Tennessee and played a year with the Panthers before heading to Buffalo.
Over his 12 years in the league, Jones has been a consistent presence on his teams’ defensive fronts. In all but four seasons, he has played in 16 or 17 games. One of those four was his rookie season, and he matched that career low with only seven games in 2023 when he suffered a pectoral injury. The only other limited seasons Jones has on his ledger are two 12-game outings in 2017 and last year. As Jones enters his age-35 season, that kind of reliability is admirable.
Jones also appears reliable in the analytics. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Jones routinely grades out as top 20 to 40 interior defender, usually out of about 120 players graded at the position. While his specialty has usually been in run defense, he boasts 20.0 sacks, 34 tackles for loss, and 63 quarterback hits in his career.
The Patriots are coming off a season-opening loss after their Super Bowl rematch with the Seahawks on Wednesday. In the mid-week game, New England saw mixed results from its defensive line. From the starting group, only Christian Barmore showed any real effectiveness in slowing Seattle down. Fellow starters Milton Williams and Cory Durden struggled to match Barmore’s success while Joshua Farmer and Leonard Taylor III failed to impress much off the bench.
It was only a one-game sample, and there’s every reason to believe that the group could improve with more time and against teams who aren’t the reigning Super Bowl champions. Still, even if the Patriots aren’t looking at Jones as an injection of previously lacking talent, he represents a veteran presence that was missing from the group. Before Jones, Barmore and Williams boasted the most NFL experience on the line with five years apiece. Jones provides the line with heaps of experience and a proven track record in multiple systems.
Ely Allen contributed to this post.
