In its final two games of the NFL’s 2018 season, New England deployed defensive back Jonathan Jones in new ways, and the strategy helped the Patriots become Super Bowl champions again.

In New England’s 37-31 overtime victory against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship game on Jan. 20, the Patriots had Jones shadow Pro Bowl wide receiver Tyreek Hill, and the former West Alabama standout caught only one pass -- and that came when Jones was out of the game.

In New England’s 13-3 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII on Sunday, New England used Jones as its strong safety, even though most of his NFL experience had come as a slot cornerback.

“Wherever they need me, I’m down to play,” Jones said after earning his second Super Bowl ring. “I love to play ball, and I love to be out there with those guys, so whatever they ask me to do, I show up and do it.”

Jones led the Patriots with eight tackles on Sunday, and the former Auburn standout earned a sack for running Los Angeles quarterback Jared Goff out of bounds for a 2-yard loss in the fourth quarter.

To combat the NFC's highest-scoring offense, the Patriots rolled out a different look on defense. Strong safety Patrick Chung moved into an outside-linebacker role, with Jones taking his place in the starting lineup.

New England also played mostly zone coverage when the Rams threw the football, even though the Patriots had relied on man-to-man coverage at a greater rate than any other team in the NFL during the regular season.

“It was the game plan the coaches came up with," Jones said, "and I was prepared for it, ready for it. It helped us as a team to have the front to be able to stop the run, and it was something we all bought into. It was part of our game plan the entire time. Just working on it and the coaches, they came up with a great game plan, and everyone executed from the front to backers to the defensive backs -- everybody.”

Jones' role became even more vital when Chung sustained a broken arm in the first minute of the second half, causing more adjustments on defense. Protecting a 13-3 lead in the fourth quarter, the New England secondary was under attack, as Los Angeles used a running play on only two of its final 21 offensive snaps.

The Patriots held the Rams to 30 points and 161 yards fewer than Los Angeles' regular-season averages.

“Team defense,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said of New England’s success. “There’s not one guy that can stop the Rams. They have too many good players, too many explosive guys and they’re too well-coached. We played the run competitively. I felt we rushed the passer competitively. I thought we covered competitively. We didn’t give up big plays, which they hit on everybody. We, for the most part, kept the ball in front of us and forced them to execute a solid number of plays to move the ball. Eventually, we were able to get some stops.”

Jones played all but one of the Patriots' 65 defensive snaps after he hadn't played more than 41 percent of them in any of New England's final seven regular-season games.

Jones also had 17 special-teams plays in Super Bowl LIII, putting him on the field for 81 plays -- the most for New England and equaling Los Angeles linebacker Cory Littleton for the most in the game. It was the most that Jones had played during the entire 2018 season.

“They were a great team,” Jones said of the Rams. “Hats off to those guys. They came out to fight. We knew we had a fight on our hands when we were going up against them.”

Jones has played for the Patriots for three seasons after joining the team as an undrafted rookie in 2016, and New England has reached the Super Bowl every season.

In the Patriots' 34-28 overtime victory against the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI on Feb. 5, 2017, Jones was on the field for 22 special-teams snaps and made a tackle.

Last year, Jones suffered an ankle injury in New England's Divisional Round victory over the Tennessee Titans, and he couldn't play in the Patriots' 41-33 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII.

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New England Patriots defensive back Jonathan Jones tackles Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley during Super Bowl LIII on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2019, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)Getty Images

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