By Tom E. Curran
FOXBORO - Tired of hearing the traits of Chandler Jones compared to those of Jason Pierre-Paul yet?
Sorry. Because here comes another one. This time, though, it's not about getting after the quarterback. It's about getting after it, period.
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If you remember when the Patriots prepared for the Giants before the Super Bowl, the great length of Pierre-Paul (a shorthand way of saying he's lean with extremely long arms) was a factor New England was wary of. So wary, in fact, that they had coaches waving paddles in the air when Tom Brady threw so that he could negotiate throwing through and around the raised arms of the Giants' defensive linemen.
That trait is one that Jones - he of the 35.5 inch arms - shares with Pierre-Paul. And here's another. With the 6-5 Jones' long legs, he's able to lope quickly downfield or flatten out and go directly from the edge to the middle of the field in two steps. His pursuit is exceptional.
Asked in general if that's an advantage in a defensive lineman, downfield pursuit, Bill Belichick said, "It depends on how fast they are; if theyre fast enough, yeah. I think you see a lot of it in the league, guys that can run. Its hard to catch anybody from behind if you cant run fast. You have to be able to cover some ground, whether its running down guys to the perimeter or downfield on screen passes and things like that. Guys that can run, that play hard, that play with a good motor, they make those plays."
Those are plays that some Patriots defensive linemen - Vince Wilfork and Mike Wright in particular - make regularly. Those are plays that leaped off the film when Richard Seymour was in his early days with the team. Those are plays that could be in the wheelhouse of the seemingly indefatigable Jones.
"Chandler runs well," Belichick allowed. "He covers ground, he plays with good effort."
Ever cognizant of being general in his praise, Belichick added, "Jake Bequette had a couple of those plays, Justin Francis, Jermaine Cunningham, Rob Ninkovich, really all those guys. They can all run. Theyve all made plays from the backside or downfield, definitely in practice and through the spring. I think if a guy runs 4.7, 4.8, he takes a good angle and is playing with good effort, theyll make some plays."
Effort will not be an issue with Jones.
"For a great football player, you have to have a high motor. And what I (mean by high motor) for you non-football analysts here, when a guy has a high motor that means he's never giving up until that whistle's blown and that's the kind of mentality I like to approach. If the whistle hasn't blown, I'm still running after the ball."
It's not an ideal situation, looking for your defensive linemen to make plays downfield at the linebacker level. But the gap between real and ideal can be wide during a football game so Jones' length - and effort - bring added value to the Patriots. And a benefit they didn't really have before Jones arrived.