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Rookie DB Tebucky Jones Impressive In Camp. The Patriots' second first-round pick, Defensive back Tebucky Jones, has impressed the coaches in this weeks camp. Defensive backs coach Ron Lynn and Carroll make comments to Jones after almost every play. Yesterday he had some terrific one-on-one battles and showed tremendous effort and skill. His ability is beginning to show in the form of the pro level. Coach Carroll said it would be a difficult task to make the transition from college to pro football. It seems that Tebucky is doing it as well as anybody! He normally went one-on-one against second-round pick Tony Simmons and 2nd year player Tony Gaiter. He was, however, burned deep when rookie free-agent QB Jim Murphy threw a long touchdown pass to free agent WR Denis Montana. "Today they threw a bunch of different routes at me," said Jones. "I have to watch their hips and not get fooled." Its much tougher in the pros than it is in college, there is no doubt about that. In college you play against very athletic guys, but in the pros you play against the best of the best. Jones said the coaching staff is emphasizing that he must be patient in coverage, waiting for a receiver to make a move rather than trying to match him step for step. Jones also mentioned, "When I start jamming them with my pads, they're gonna have trouble getting downfield." It seems that Jones will turn out to be a quality starter for the Patriots and possibly a future franchise player. He is working one-on-one with coach Carroll on defensive coverage schemes. He is planning to use Tebucky on many different defensive schemes and especially the bump-and-run coverage. More News & Notes: Rookie Free-Agent QB Jim Murphy, from Northwestern, has really performed extremely well the last two days, throwing the ball very well on deep routes as well as short passes. He is also showing good zip and spiral to the ball, drilling it to receivers when necessary. "He's holding up pretty well. He's done a good job," said Carroll. Murphy has a great chance of making the squad if the Patriots plan to have punter Tom Tupa concentrate on just punting, instead of punting and playing 3rd string QB. Murphy has done a phenomenal job and it seems likely that the Patriots have plans for him. DB Mark Tate, who spent all of last season on the Patriots' practice squad, had a good day covering receivers. Carroll said that Mark Tate, Terry Billups, and Kato Serwanga, have all been impressive. Billups and Serwanga are both free agents looking to make an impact with the Patriots. |
