BREAKING NEWS: All the Charges Against Jack Jones Have Been DROPPED

Adam Glanzman. Getty Images.

Well, well, well. If this doesn't beat all. Here I was, during the Patriots last preseason game, wondering out loud if the fact Jack Jones took 36 snaps (the 11th most on the defense and more than any other established veteran starter on his side of the ball) was an indication the coaching staff was bracing for his inevitable suspension over his arrest at Logan Airport with loaded handguns in June:

Boy was I wrong. Not about the coaches' thinking. But about Jones' future availability. Because reportedly he just did the legal system version of a Pick-6:

Source - With Week 1 looming, Jack Jones has taken care of his legal situation.

The Patriots cornerback moved his court date up to Tuesday morning and agreed to a deal in Boston Municipal Court. In exchange for a nolle prosequi — a formal document where prosecutors drop charges — Jones agreed to one year of pre-trial probation and 48 hours of community service.

Back in June, prosecutors said Jones brought two loaded guns into Logan Airport and tried to get them through TSA screening in a bag with his name on it.

Oh right. He had two loaded guns. And according to the initial reports, neither of them were licensed. Plus he allegedly had an illegal clip. So this isn't so much a legal Pick-6 as it is that playoff game in the 2003 season where Ty Law picked off the Colts three times, and Rodney Harrison added another. With the Boston Municipal Court in the role of Peyton Manning. 

I'm not here to argue the merits of the case against Jones. If you're fan of his play last year as a rookie - where he had two interceptions, four passes broken up, a pass completion rate of just 50.0%, and his 63.1 passer rating when targeted was the 10th lowest among all cornerbacks - then you're thrilled right now. If you're a fan of not having to worry about people walking around the airport with two loaded handguns, you're probably slightly perturbed at this. 

As someone with very strong feelings both ways, I'm not taking sides. 

Where I am going to come out strong on this one, however, is on the side of having a good attorney. As I've mentioned before, Hunter S. Thompson once said that even Satan has the right to good counsel. And if the Prince of Darkness does, so does a very promising athlete on a position of need as my football team faces a Murderer's Row of quarterbacks. So it's with joy in my heart that I take back anything I may have said about Jones' attorney Rosemary C. Scapiccio and her decidedly unique performance on the courthouse steps at her clients' arraignment:

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I mean, who was I or anyone else to question her judgement on this one. Saying she wasn't going to talk about the case, followed by talking about the case. A LOT. Repeatedly accusing the internet of calling him a "thug" and a "wannabe gang member," without clarifying who exactly was saying it. And at the 2:20 mark of the video, when a reporter makes it clear none of them were saying that, she spits back," "Well you were! Everybody was!" as the whole huddle of them says, "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" That was a bold strategy indeed. And it looks like it paid off for them. 

And so it would appear that, as long as he puts in the equivalent of one week of full time employment over the next two years, maybe going to community centers to talk to kids or whatever (I have a hard time thinking they'll put a Patriots player in an orange vest and have him clean the shoulder of the highway like Alexis on Schitt's Creek) over the next 12 months, he's in the clear. Certainly not facing jail time, which seemed like an inevitability two and a half months ago. And therefore probably not facing suspension. Though given that this is the Patriots we're talking about and the NFL has a two-tiered system of justice when it comes to this team, I wouldn't spike the football on this one just yet. 

So it would appear justice has been done, just in time for the season opener. Or Jack Jones pulled a Big Ern McCracken and showed he's above the law:

Regardless, the Patriots depth at the essential cornerback spot is deeper than we all feared it could be. But just as friendly Public Service Announcement, don't carry guns at the airport. The next guy who does might not get such a break.