Cornerback Jack Jones is merely the latest to slip up while in Bill Belichick’s character reform program. Owners and coaches will never say it publicly, but off-field incidents are an accepted — and acceptable — cost of doing NFL business.
So, don’t hold your breath waiting for the Patriots to jettison Jones before his next court date of Aug. 18 as he faces the legal fallout from being caught with two loaded Glock 9mm guns in his carry-on luggage last Friday at Logan Airport, according to State Police. Jones is a talented player at a premium position. The Patriots will see if he and his pugnacious attorney of Netflix documentary “Trial 4″ fame, Rosemary Scapicchio, can pull off a legal Hail Mary to avoid substantial jail time.
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What’s different for the Patriots is the competitive milieu of Jones’s alleged transgressions. The Patriots used to be able to bank on these off-field black eyes fading away under the blinding glow of their on-field glory and Lombardi Trophies. Winning was the ultimate shield for them, the best public relations antidote.
That’s gone. The Patriots are now a middle-of-the-pack NFL franchise, 25-26 over the last three seasons. They’re no longer able to use perpetual success to deflect off-the-field issues from players who were questionable choices as employees in the first place.
In the old days of Belichick and Tom Brady, the Patriots could, if they saw fit, cut ties with a promising player like Jones, figure out that depth-chart hole on the fly, and collect their 12 wins and AFC East title. Now, not so much. The pressure is on Belichick to get the team back into the playoffs.
The roster has been upgraded from last year’s 8-9 campaign, the second losing season in three post-Brady years. But New England’s roster feels a bit like a Jenga tower. The pieces can carefully and expertly be arranged to reach greater heights than anticipated, but if you pull out one valuable piece, it’s poised to sway and topple down.
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That’s in part why the only puff of PR smoke to emanate from Patriot Place is this statement last Friday: “We have been notified that Jack Jones was arrested at Logan Airport earlier today. We are in the process of gathering more information and will not be commenting further at this time.”
If there is a path to holding on to Jones, Belichick and the Patriots want to take it. Don’t expect to hear any public pronouncements from the organization while the case is ongoing.
Despite drafting cornerback Christian Gonzalez with their first-round pick and re-signing last year’s top corner, Jonathan Jones, the Patriots’ cornerback corps looks vulnerable if Jack Jones is subtracted. It’s always risky relying on a rookie, and the ability to deploy Jonathan Jones at safety following the retirement of stalwart Devin McCourty would be severely hampered.
Jack Jones is a starting-caliber corner. Those guys aren’t easy to find. He played 54 percent of the snaps as a rookie last season.
Of course, the primary reason Jones was available to the Patriots in the fourth round of the 2022 draft was that teams were wary an incident like this could happen. Jones is more reliable blanketing receivers than he is staying out of trouble.
The Long Beach, Calif., product was booted from the University of Southern California for academic issues in 2018. That same year, he was arrested on suspicion of commercial burglary and conspiracy to commit a crime after breaking into a Panda Express. The two felony charges were reduced to a second-degree misdemeanor, resulting in a 45-day sentence of house arrest.
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At Arizona State, Jones was suspended in 2020 for a violation of team conduct. Last season, the Patriots suspended him for the final two games of the season, punishment stemming from an issue with his rehab from a season-ending knee injury. Earning a suspension when you’re on injured reserve is like earning a speeding ticket while your car is parked in your driveway.
The Patriots have frequently driven down this road. Belichick likes a bargain, even if it comes with baggage and especially if it comes with the ability to win football games.
In 2004, he traded for running back Corey Dillon, who had been arrested in 2000 on domestic violence charges and had a reputation for recalcitrance. It paid off. Dillon rushed for a franchise-record 1,635 yards and the Patriots became the last team to repeat as Super Bowl champions.
The disastrous flip side was taking disgraced tight end Aaron Hernandez in the fourth round of the 2010 draft. Like Jones, Hernandez was much more than a fourth-round talent, but off-field issues in college shook teams.
The late Hernandez is responsible for arguably the darkest saga in the history of the organization, as he shot and killed Odin Lloyd in 2013 and was convicted of murder.
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The hubris of the Patriots was that they came to believe they not only could field better football teams but that they could make better people too.
Jones isn’t even a novel cornerback case. In 2012, the Patriots picked cornerback Alfonzo Dennard in the seventh round despite Dennard punching a police officer in Omaha, Neb., five days before the draft. Dennard ended up getting arrested on suspicion of DUI in Nebraska after his rookie season. Between the two incidents, he was ordered to serve 60 days in jail.
Dennard, who was arrested for domestic violence last year, remained on the team until he was released in May of 2015 after his play and work ethic dipped. That’s always more of a red flag with Belichick than off-field decision-making. We’re talking about a man who coached Lawrence Taylor, who was at times 50/50 to show up on time on game day.
There have been other gridiron gambles who found trouble with the law and found a home in Fort Foxborough: Albert Haynesworth (simple assault for groping a waitress), Aqib Talib (battery of a cab driver), Michael Floyd (super extreme DUI).
Belichick gambled on wayward wide receivers Josh Gordon, who battled substance abuse, and Antonio Brown, who faced accusations of inappropriate sexual conduct toward women.
But all of those prior instances came with Brady on the team and the promise of the playoffs.
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Both are gone.
Jones’s case not only damages the team’s reputation. It damages its chances for a successful season.
The Patriots may be forced to choose which type of damage is more palatable at this point.
The evidence points strongly in one direction.
Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at christopher.gasper@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @cgasper.