The Cincinnati Bengals already had a talented cornerback room with Chidobe Awuzie, Mike Hilton, and Cam Taylor-Britt, but they were on a mission for more once the 2022 season was over.
Cincinnati used a second-round pick in April on DJ Turner out of Michigan, but a month earlier, they signed veteran Sidney Jones IV for added depth.
Jones has played for four different teams over the last four seasons. However, with his play during OTAs and minicamp, Jones is showing he wants to be in Cincinnati longer than his one-year deal.
Jones finished the team’s offseason workouts with a nice minicamp showing. Most notably, he was in position to intercept a pass intended for wideout Tee Higgins during a 7-on-7 period. It’s a great sign for a Bengals secondary that signed Jones for veteran depth behind cornerbacks Chidobe Awuzie, Cam Taylor-Britt and Mike Hilton. — Ben Baby, ESPN
From 2018 through 2021, Jones tallied all four of his interception and 29 pass breakups. Throughout his six-year career, Jones has only allowed a completion percentage over 60% against him for a full season twice and he has given up just 10 touchdowns according to Pro Football Focus (allowed none in 2022).
Jones is no one-trick pony either. He’s logged 290 snaps in the slot, 37 at free safety, and even 140 in the box in addition to his 1,299 as a boundary corner.
Last season saw Jones register career highs in terms of his run-defense (74.6) and tackling grades (83.7) per PFF, but he’ll need to vastly improve his career low 44.6 coverage mark.
Sidney Jones IV with the pick after Tee Higgins can’t bring in Joe Burrow pass. pic.twitter.com/lI1UPQaSLz
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) June 14, 2023
There’s a long way to go until September when the NFL season starts, but Jones has a ton of momentum heading into training camp which makes the competition at cornerback one to watch in Cincinnati.
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