Since New England drafted Cyrus Jones in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft, the former Alabama cornerback has been waived twice by the Patriots and missed a season with a knee injury. Now he’s on the edge of an opportunity with his hometown Baltimore Ravens.

With slot corner Tavon Young going down with a neck injury last week, Jones became the leading candidate to take his place at the nickel, even though the Ravens' depth chart at cornerback might be one of the deepest position groups on an NFL team.

“Cyrus is the No. 1 nickel right now,” Ravens defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale told reporters on Sunday. "But we’ll just wait and see what happens when we game-plan it. Brandon Carr has been in there. ‘Double A’ (Alabama alumnus Anthony Averett) has been in there. We can put different guys in there, and you said it earlier in your question, it’s matchup, what we think is the best. We put Chuck (Clark) and DeShon (Elliott) in there. It’s just a matchup thing.”

In the Ravens' 26-13 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Thursday in Baltimore's second preseason game, Jones played 34 defensive snaps -- three more than any of his teammates.

“I hate seeing what’s going on with (Young) right now, and I’m praying for him, as all of us are,” Jones said on Saturday. "But it’s up to the next man to step up, whoever that is. I’m just going to keep going, trying to come out here, practice hard, get better, listen to my coaches, and if I have to go in there and do the job of taking Tavon’s spot, then so be it. If not, I’m going to keep going, trying to do whatever it is to help this team win.”

Jones opened the preseason by returning an interception 19 yards for a touchdown in a 29-0 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Aug. 8. Against the Packers, Jones recorded five tackles. His career high in 23 regular-season games is three tackles.

“He’s looked good," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said in his postgame comments. "That’s the thing that makes us feel good about it. Cyrus has looked good, and we have other guys we work in there. All of our corners end up – not all of them, but most of them play nickel, expect the two starters. Brandon Carr plays the nickel quite a bit. We move safeties down in there quite a bit with different personnel groups. We would rather have Tavon than not have him, but we’re blessed at that position with some depth.”

In assessing his performance against Green Bay, Jones said: "I think I played hard. I think I played smart. Got a little fatigued at the end. But, overall, I think I’m holding my own and out there flying around and just playing hard, trying to execute.”

Jones played in 11 games for the Ravens last season. While he was on the field for 192 special-teams plays and returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown, he took only five snaps with the Baltimore defense in 2018.

Jones often uses the hashtag #FINAO on his social media. It stands for: Failure is not an option.

“A lot of older guys that I looked up to when I was younger kind of coined that phrase,” Jones said, "and as I got older, I kind of stuck with it and eventually kind of made it my own. It’s my motto that I go by, but I think it’s something that everyone can benefit from, especially younger kids, which I definitely try to have an effect on, being in my hometown and playing here, throughout my foundation and whatnot. I just think it’s a positive message that anybody can relate to.”

The early parts of Jones' NFL career didn't point toward success. He appeared in 10 games as a rookie in 2016, but the Patriots didn't play him at all in their postseason march to Super Bowl LI and the NFL championship.

In the final preseason game of 2017, Jones suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament, and the knee injury sidelined him for the entire season.

In the roster cuts at the end of the 2018 preseason, New England waived Jones. The Ravens signed him for their practice squad. But two games into the season, the Patriots brought him back. Two games later, New England let him go again. This time, Baltimore claimed him off the waiver wire for its active roster, and he played in the final 11 games of the regular season and the Ravens' postseason loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

“Going back and forth last year, trying to get my bearings and get my feet under me and be in the moment and not let those outside distractions, what was going on with me at the beginning, affect how I adapted here,” Jones said. "Being settled in and having the opportunity to be here around the springtime and see how the offseason program goes and works, that definitely helped me settle in a little bit more, versus coming in here when training camp was over, leaving and then coming back again. I think being here and knowing I was going to be here helped me out. …

"I can say I feel really, really good about where I am versus the past couple years, so I’m just going to try to keep building off that and improving.”

The Ravens will play the third of their four preseason games at 6:30 p.m. CDT Thursday, when they visit the Philadelphia Eagles.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.