I was worried about Chandler Jones this offseason, but after seeing him in the preseason and against the Bills, I feel good about where he’s headed. PFF graded him out with a 2.4 overall, led the team with a QB hit and two hurries, and was third on the team with three stops.
In re-watching the game last night and specifically focusing on him I thought he looked faster than last year and I was really impressed with his hand-fighting skills and how aggressively he was attacking the offensive linemen.
This is not to make excuses to say the pressure was where it needed to be, but it’s worth pointing out that the Pats didn’t give up a 20+ passing play for the first time since 2009. They also played very conservatively, and every little bit of pressure Jones generated was reliant on him winning his matchup.
All that said, at the end of the game yesterday before looking at any stats or anything, I was feeling the same way. “Where was Chandler Jones?” But I think when you take a closer look he actually had a pretty good game and caused the Bills a lot of problems inside.
I think as the season carries on we’ll see more and more out of him, because to me he looked stronger and faster than he was last year. If they do sign Andre Carter I’d view it as adding a veteran defensive end, a position where they only have four players, one who’s a rookie and the other is a second-year guy who has barely played at all.
