Ninkovich, Jones working on pass rush off the field

Jones and Ninkovich sack Peyton Manning. AP Photo
Rushing the passer figures to be an important part of the Patriots defense this year. And two of the best guys for doing that on the Patriots roster would be Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich. And, according to the Boston Herald, they're constantly working together to refine their game. And while they work on their game in practice, they've also come up with some ideas off the field as well.

Here's what Chandler Jones had to say, per the Herald:
“We’ll always walk up to each other and do a pass rush move,” Jones said. “And we’ll do something like, ‘Hey, what if I did this?’ And it will be so funky that the coaches wouldn’t even coach it. There was a move when Rob was like, ‘You know, your arms are long. You should try this. It will really work on a guy.’ It was a certain move, and I did in a game and I got a sack. He wanted (credit for) the sack for the longest time.”

They're both talented enough to get by without the chemistry, but the chemistry has been a huge plus for both of them and the numbers prove it. Jones, a 2012 1st round pick, had 17.5 sacks in his 1st 2 season, and 11.5 in 2013 when he racked 7th in the league. Ninkovich has had back-to-back 8 sack seasons after posting 11.5 sacks total in his first 6 seasons, so working together has obviously been mutually beneficial. Last season, the pair were among 14 other pairs with at least 8 sacks apiece, ranking 10th among said pairs with 19.5 combined sacks.

Per Ninkovich:
“We talk a lot,” said Ninkovich, who had one sack and two tackles for loss against the Eagles on Friday. “He’ll let me know what he’s thinking of doing on a particular play, and I’ll understand where he’s going to be and I’ll try to cover for him. But you also have to work with what the offense is giving you, so you can’t just run up the field and expect the quarterback to be there.”

As of right now, they show no signs of slowing down and figure to be important factors in the Patriots defensive scheme.

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