PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK: Cyrus Jones leaves one home for another

Less than three weeks after his release, cornerback-return man Cyrus Jones was surprised to return to the Patriots so soon.

FOXBORO – He left home earlier this week, packing his bags to return to his original NFL home.

Cornerback-return man Cyrus Jones – hometown: Baltimore – returned to the Patriots (who introduced him to the league as a second-round pick out of Alabama in the 2016 draft) on Wednesday when he was signed to their 53-man roster off the Ravens’ practice squad, the move coming less than three weeks after he'd been waived by New England.

“Would you expect to be back here that quick?” Jones said, answering a reporter's question with a question following Thursday's practice on the fields behind Gillette Stadium. "I mean, no.

“I just took it in stride and was moving on with my future," Jones said of his Sept. 1 release during the Patriots' cuts to the regular-season roster limit. "I understand the NFL’s a business. You’ve just got to be ready when your number’s called, your phone number, your jersey number, whatever. That’s part of the process. When they called and expressed interest for me to come back, I was all for it.”

Jones, who attended the Gilman School in Baltimore and was named the 2011 Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year, returned home when the Ravens announced his signing to their practice squad on Sept. 3.

Now, two years after a disastrous rookie season and in the wake of a 2017 season spent on the injured reserve list with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, Jones has been brought back to add a layer of depth to the secondary and likely return punts, the role in which he struggled so much in 2016 when he had fumbled five times in 19 returns (11 punts, eight kickoffs).

During Thursday’s practice, Jones, a cornerback by trade, got some work at a safety position where the concussion Patrick Chung suffered in last Sunday’s 31-20 loss at Jacksonville has relegated him to the sidelines.

“I got out there a little bit at safety just because we’re short right now,” said Jones. “So I’m not really sure what the coaches want to do with that, but whatever they ask me to do I’m going to try to do it to the best of my ability.”

Gronkowski added to injury report: Tight end Rob Gronkowski was added to the Patriots’ injury report on Thursday, limited at practice due to an ankle injury.

Offensive tackle Marcus Cannon (calf), cornerback Keion Crossen (hamstring), safety Nate Ebner (hip), wide receiver Josh Gordon (hamstring) and cornerback Eric Rowe (groin) continued to be limited.

Both Chung and defensive end Trey Flowers were non-participants with concussions for the second straight day.

Cleveland Browns East: A day after wide receiver Josh Gordon participated in his first practice with the Patriots, wide receiver Corey Coleman, his former teammate in Cleveland, was signed to the team’s practice squad, the move coming at the expense of running back Kenneth Farrow, who was released by the team for the second time in less than three weeks (signed three days before the preseason finale, he was previously waived during the Sept. 1 cuts to the regular-season roster limit of 53).

This, of course, is Coleman’s second stint with the Patriots, Signed to their 53-man roster on Sept. 11, he was listed as inactive last Sunday and released on Monday to free up room for Gordon.

Terms of the deal for Gordon were finally completed on Wednesday, the Patriots’ acquiring him and a seventh-round pick in next year’s draft from the Browns in exchange for a fifth-round choice in 2019, clearing the way for him to practice with the team that afternoon.

Rivers hoping to get in the flow: He has been practicing all week.

He has been practicing patience on Sunday.

That pretty much sums up Derek Rivers’ 2018 NFL regular season to this point in time.

One year after he spent his rookie year on the injured reserve list with a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered during a joint practice session with the Houston Texans at The Greenbrier in West Virginia, the Patriots’ pass-rushing defensive end has been a healthy scratch for the team’s first two games.

“Sometimes it can be (difficult to watch),” Rivers admitted, “but for the most part it’s a learning thing. You can still learn from watching Keionta (defensive lineman Keionta Davis) play or D-Wise (defensive end Deatrich Wise) or the other guys. You learn from each guy and watch some of the things that they do and you can add it to your game.”

The Patriots’ top pick in the 2017 draft (third round, 83rd overall), Rivers’ first NFL game could come this Sunday night, the likelihood of that occurring increased by the fact by the concussion Flowers suffered against the Jaguars.

The all-time record holder at Youngstown State with 41 sacks, Rivers is anxious to make his debut at the next level.

“Anytime you get a chance to be on the field, whether it’s at practice or in a game, it’s a blessing,” the 6-foot-5, 250-pounder said. “Obviously, it will be real exciting once that time comes to be out there and play a game. It’ll be a real exciting time.”

The Patriots’ pass rush went from impressive in Week 1 (12 quarterback hits and three sacks in pressuring Deshaun Watson as he threw 34 times in Houston’s 27-20 loss in Foxboro) to invisible in Week 2 (four quarterback hits and no sacks as Blake Bortles threw 45 times).