Wednesday was day ten of Raiders training camp. Early in practice, Zay Jones lined up on the left side. The ball was going to him on this play. Even with a defender in his hip pocket, Carr threw the ball and Jones turned and aggressively closed on it, ensuring the defender had no shot at it.
Plays like that are a product of chemistry. This camp we’ve seen a lot of them from Jones and Carr. Something we saw very little of last season after the team acquired Jones from the Bills in exchange for a 2021 fifth-round pick.
Chemistry is a big part of the new look Zay Jones. But it’s not the only thing.
The former second-round pick was billed (so to speak) as a speedy, quick receiver. But last season, he looked downright sluggish. In that regard, he looks like a completely different guy in this training camp.
“We can see a huge difference from Zay from last year to this year,” said General Manager Mike Mayock over zoom conference call Tuesday. “I’m proud of the way he came into camp.”
For the chemistry part, Jones attributes it to the extra time he spent in player practices over the offseason. He was regularly part of those practices along with Derek Carr at a park in Las Vegas.
For the quickness part, that was part physical and part mental.
“I think just more time with [Derek Carr]. Just getting that timing down and everything,” Jones said Thursday from training camp. “But more importantly I cut a little bit of weight. I wanted to be more fluid and faster, quickness was a main focal point for me this offseason.
“Just the route running. Coming into the middle of the season and you’re trying to learn someone’s playbook, there’s small details that you may miss. It’s just natural. There’s a lot of language, a lot of verbiage that goes into it. So, being my second year with the playbook, just understanding what’s all going to go into it; now I can be versatile, now I can go inside and I can move outside, I can go X, I can go Z and really understand the language and getting these details down, so now when I’m going into the summer, I can practice these routes at full speed without hesitation because I know what I’m doing. Now I can put my own flavor on things, now I can add a little bit to the route. DC sees the way I run a route and he understands I’m to have this breakpoint or these are my mechanics, this is my speed, this is what I’m doing.
“I think just with timing that needs to be developed, I feel more confident. I think this is one of the most confident times that I’ve had in the NFL.”
After what I saw last season, along with the team spending two draft picks on the receiver position and the addition of Nelson Agholor in free agency, Jones looked like he was behind the eight ball to make this team. But to his credit, he has turned things around considerably and is making a strong case not only to make the roster but perhaps even see a decent amount of playing time.
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