Marcus Jones looked up to catch a punt at his own 13-yard line. With a pair of Carolina Panthers defenders in his face, it appeared New England’s returner could call for a fair catch.
Instead, Jones fielded the punt and made each man miss. Seconds later, he was 87 yards away in the end zone.
“I’m pretty ruthless back there,” Jones said post game with a laugh. “I had a little bit of space and I was just like man, those guys trust me a lot and I trust them to make the right blocks. It kind of went from there.”
Jones’ first-quarter punt return gave the Patriots a 7-6 lead — kickstarting an offensive surge for New England as they went on to score 42 unanswered points in a blowout win.
“I think that’s what we’ve been looking for. I talked about that throughout training camp and how those re