Patriots CB's Heart Was Racing During Roller Coaster Schedule Release
FOXBORO --- As the New England Patriots' 2026 schedule was being released, cornerback Marcus Jones was recovering from the team's release video.
Several players on the Patriots, including Jones, Christian Gonzalez, Craig Woodson and TreVeyon Henderson, were strapped into roller coasters at Six Flags as they screamed the names of each of their upcoming opponents.
It was clear that some of the players enjoyed the rides. For others, it took a bit of convincing.
"Basically I haven't rode a roller coaster in a very long time," Jones told reporters following voluntary offseason workouts this week. "I'd probably say like 15, 14 years, and I love my feet being on the ground, and I like being in control."
The Patriots started off on smaller rides before working their way up the roller coaster ladder. Despite being a calm player on the field with the ball in his hands, the lack of control for Jones was unnerving.
"That situation was a great experience, you know, a lot of laughter that came into it, but I'm gonna be honest, like I was serious on those rides, guys," Jones said. "I'm not a fan, but I'm glad it came out like that. The media team put in a lot of hard working hours into it, so I loved the situation of all of it for sure."
"My Heart Racing, My Adrenaline Rushing"
It didn't matter that the All-Pro returner has the ball in his hands during some of the biggest moments of the season, his nerves still jolted up as the roller coaster ran down the tracks.
"Just a tad bit of peer pressure, so they got me," Jones said. "I was just like, guys, I'm just not, my heart racing, my adrenaline rushing and everything, and I've been in situations to where my adrenaline rushes when I run back a punt return, but that's a little different. But that's how they got me."
A video posted by the Patriots social media team showed the slow burn of Jones' experience at the theme park, beginning as a happy camper before slowly getting more nervous. There were parts of the video that had Jones smiling and laughing, albeit not as much as some of his teammates.
But the veteran cornerback, entering his fifth season in New England, said that he and a fellow defensive back were the funniest on the rides.
"I think it was me and Craig," Jones said. "I would say the people I mean, of course, I gotta say, myself, guys, me and Craig, I would say the people that weren't, you know, kept a straight fact like TreVeyon ... that's the problem. People get on roller coasters to make facial expressions, not to sit there and just not make any. So him, and then Gonzo was pretty cool too.
"I don't know how you guys be all cool, calm and collected, but that's not my forte at all."
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/patriots/onsi as Patriots CB's Heart Was Racing During Roller Coaster Schedule Release.
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This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 1:03 PM.