Jones' Late Development A Positive

It hasn’t exactly been easy to find a whole lot of positives for the Bills in recent weeks with the team’s many swings in play. One encouraging sign for the future has been the on-field growth of Zay Jones, who has been much improved after a particularly rough start to the season.

- Mark Ludwiczak

Jones has begun to come into his own in recent weeks. He turned the corner in Week 9 against the New York Jets, reeling in six passes for 53 yards and his first career touchdown. After missing Week 10 due to injury, that carried into Buffalo’s next two games against the Los Angeles Chargers (four receptions, 68 yards) and Kansas City Chiefs (three receptions, 33 yards, one touchdown).

Jones has always had the talent. That much was evident in college at East Carolina, where he became a record-setting wideout known for his precise route and steady hands. It was evident again at training camp, where Jones displayed plenty of promise while adjusting to life in the NFL.

It wasn’t showing on the field throughout the first half of the season, when Jones’ confidence was clearly down after some early struggles began to snowball. But talent like that doesn’t just disappear, which is good news for the future.

“Yeah, just settling in,” Jones said. “I’m really just trying to do the best I can. I feel like I can do more though. I feel like this team, we know we can do more. By no means do I feel like I’m where I need to be though, so every day it’s a constant trying to improve each area of my game and this team. With Tyrod (Taylor) and that connection, he constantly trusts me and tells me that, and he’s going to keep coming back to me. It’s good to have that confidence coming from such a veteran player, especially your quarterback.”

It’s going to be extremely interesting this offseason to see how the Bills reshape the rest of their wide receiver corps.