Patriots Hire Arkansas Coach, But Bill Belichick 'Not Sure' About Matt Patricia Job

Former Arkansas Razorbacks assistant coach Keith Jones will reportedly serve on the New England Patriots defensive line staff.

FOXBORO – The New England Patriots are adding another ‘Jones’ to their organization for 2023.

Defensive assistant Keith Jones is expected to join the Pats’ staff as a coaching assistant, per a Thursday morning report from ESPN.

Meanwhile. what about Matt Patricia coming back to the staff, even after last year's turbulent turn with him helping to run the offense?

“I’m not sure,” head coach Bill Belichick said when asked if Patricia would be working for the Patriots this year, via Chris Mason of MassLive.

Meanwhile, Jones has some familiarity with New England, having spent the summer of 2022 with the team during training camp as part of the Bill Walsh Diversity Fellowship.

Most recently, he served as an assistant defensive line coach with the Patriots’ coaching contingent at the East-West Shrine Bowl in February.

While his official role has yet to be determined, he is likely to play a notable role in assisting defensive line coach Demarcus Covington, who has drawn interest from several teams throughout the offseason.

Jones played his collegiate football at the University of Tennessee – Martin, where he secured a Second-Team All-Ohio Valley Conference selection as a senior. He later became a standout for the Indoor Football League as a defensive lineman, earning First-Team All-IFL honors, while winning a league title as a member of the Iowa Barnstormers. For the past two years, he has been a Defensive Graduate Assistant at Arkansas St. (2021) and Arkansas (2022) respectively.

As a member of the Patriots defensive staff, he will have a hand in leading one of the most productive units in the NFL. The 2022 Patriots defense finished eighth in the NFL in yards allowed, tied with the San Francisco 49ers for second in the NFL with 30 takeaways (the Dallas Cowboys had 33), third in the NFL with 19 interceptions, and tied with Dallas for third in the NFL with 54 sacks.

Jones now becomes the fourth addition to New England’s coaching staff this offseason, joining Bill O’Brien, Adrian Klemm, and Will Lawing. To date, Jones is the only addition to assist the defensive staff.

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