Cornerback Cyrus Jones returned to 11-on-11 work at the New England Patriots' training camp on Sunday for the first time in almost a year.

The former Alabama standout suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the Patriots' final preseason game in 2017, and the knee injury caused him to miss the entire NFL season and begin this year's training camp on the physically-unable-to-perform list.

"It was exciting being back on the football field after watching for so long," Jones said. "It was good to get out there and run around with the guys."

Jones said he'd tried to make the best of his time off the field.

"Not being able to play the game physically, you only have one choice," Jones said, "and that's to watch from the outside in and try to become better as a student of the game. I tried to do my best to take advantage of that. ...

"Just try to use this time wisely to work on myself as a person outside of football and just become a student of the game and get those reps in the film room, watching the games on Sundays if I wasn't here. Just kind of get an edge in that aspect. That's all you can do."

FOR MORE OF AL.COM'S COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Now that's he's shown he's physically able to play, Jones needs to show he's good enough to play for the Patriots. New England has 11 cornerbacks on its preseason roster, and the Patriots likely will carry no more than six into the regular season.

Jones might have a wild card, though, in his bid to make the team -- his ability as a return man. Jones led the nation with four punt-return touchdowns at Alabama in 2015. With Danny Amendola gone to the Miami Dolphins and Julian Edelman suspended for the first four games of the 2018 regular season, the Patriots have a void at punt returner.

Before he got hurt last year, Jones had handled the return duties in the preseason for the Patriots, breaking off a 60-yard punt return against the Carolina Panthers.

New England continues its preseason schedule on Thursday night against the Philadelphia Eagles in a rematch of last season's Super Bowl. Jones was in uniform but didn't play in last week's preseason opener against the Washington Redskins.

"I'm still blessed to be able to play this game," Jones said. "To have an opportunity to still put on a Patriots jersey. And I'm just blessed to be able to come back out here and run around on a football field.

"I put the work in, try to get better out here and be the best that I can, and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to get out there and have the opportunity to showcase the work that I put in. I ain't really worried about negative stuff right now, frustration or whatever. It's in the past."

The negative stuff would be more than the knee injury in Jones' case. After being the first player picked by the Patriots in the 2016 NFL Draft, Jones had a rookie season that he called "cursed" when it was over.

Jones was a healthy scratch for six regular-season games and all of the postseason in New England's run to victory in Super Bowl LI. He was on the field with the Patriots' defense for nine or fewer snaps in six of the 10 games in which he played. One of Jones' games ended early when he was ejected for taking a swing at an opposing player against the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 9.

Jones also returned 11 punts and eight kickoffs, with one of his kickoff returns going for 43 yards. But of the 19 times that Jones handled the ball, he had five fumbles or muffs -- including on the 43-yarder.

"I don't even remember what happened that year," Jones said. "That's out of my memory. I'm just focused on trying to be the best player coming back."

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