The Oakland Raiders acquired wide receiver Zay Jones in a trade with the Buffalo Bills last week, just in time for the Raiders' bye week.
During his time off, Jones spent a lot of time hitting the playbook with head coach Jon Gruden, and on Monday, he said how hard he studied with Gruden, stating that how “that guy loves football” in reference to Gruden, according to Vic Tafur of The Athletic.
It has certainly been a disappointing season for Jones.
The 24-year-old entered 2019 looking to build on what was an impressive 2018 campaign, but instead, he ended up in Sean McDermott's doghouse in Buffalo, as he logged just seven catches for 69 yards in four games.
Jones fell behind both John Brown and Cole Beasley on the depth chart, and a nagging shoulder injury did not help his case, either.
The Dallas native, who played his collegiate football at East Carolina, was originally selected by the Bills in the second round (37th pick overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft.
He played in 15 games during his rookie campaign, catching 27 passes for 316 yards and a couple of touchdowns. Then, last season, Jones showed significant improvement, appearing in all 16 contests and hauling in 56 receptions for 652 yards and seven scores.
Jones will likely be expected to play a big role in a Raiders receiving corps that became rather thin after the release of Antonio Brown shortly before the season began.
Oakland has gotten off to a 3-2 start and will head on the road to battle the Green Bay Packers next Sunday.
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