Bills at Raiders is lining up to be the ‘Zay Jones revenge game’
For the second-straight week, it’s a chance for a former second-round wide receiver drafted by the Buffalo Bills to get their revenge the team.
Well.. actually, it’s the second game that there’s probably not much bad blood between the two sides, but nonetheless, the situation is unfolding once again. This time we just needed some circumstances help us get there.
In Week 4, Robert Woods returned to Buffalo for the first time since he left in 2016. He had a good game against his former team as well, posting five catches for 74 yards and a touchdown. But we knew Woods would play, he’s one of the Rams’ top weapons.
This time it won’t be a receiver returning to Buffalo, but the stars are aligning in a particular way and when the Bills visit Las Vegas to face the Raiders for the first time, Zay Jones might have a chance to make a big impact in this one. In Week 3, the Raiders were without first-round rookie Henry Ruggs III (hamstring) in their 36-20 loss to the Patriots.
During that outing, another rookie wideout in Bryan Edwards suffered an ankle injury making a catch. Speaking about those two combined, Raiders head coach Jon Gruden told reporters on Monday that he’s not exactly the most optimistic about either of them playing in Week 5 against Buffalo.
“We are concerned about both those guys, but I’ll remain confident until otherwise notified,” Gruden said.
Without Ruggs and Edwards in the lineup, receiver Nelson Agholor and Hunter Renfrow were Las Vegas’ top-two wideouts. Per Raiders Wire, those two played in 85 and 66 percent of snaps on offense, respectively.
While there’s also tight end Darren Waller factoring in here, who played in 95 percent of snaps in Week 3 and is quarterback Derek Carr‘s top target this year, Jones still crept his way into plenty of snaps against the Patriots himself. In a season-high, Jones played in 46 percent of snaps last weekend. Prior to the injuries to Ruggs and Edwards, Jones played in 14 and 23 percent of the Raiders’ snaps on offense in their first two games, respectively.
In those two, Jones was only targeted once by Carr in Week 2 against the Saints, but he did score with his catch. He also might have a chance to build a good rapport with Carr as well, because on his three targets this against the Patriots, Jones caught all three of them.
That’s right, Jones hasn’t dropped a single target yet with the Raiders in 2020 as the Bills are en route.
However, as mentioned, Jones didn’t appear to leave the Bills under bad terms. While, yes, he did underperform during his time in Buffalo, which also included some interesting twists off the field from social media messages by family members and a hotel fiasco during the offseason, Jones did leave a nice goodbye message to the Bills via social media:
Thank you Terry & Kim Pegula you are both first class people. Thank you Coach McDermott for the opportunity to pursue my dream at the highest level. Thank you to my teammates within that lockeroom that I got to create incredible memories with & have lifetime bonds.
— zay (@zayjones11) October 9, 2019
Buffalo acquired a fifth-round pick in 2021 from the Raiders for Jones last October… which, ironically enough, took place on Oct. 7. The Bills-Raiders are scheduled for a 4:25 p.m. kickoff this Sunday… which will be Oct. 4. Nearly a year-to-date.
