Silver Minings: Zay Jones credits Jon Gruden for sparking new love of game

Receiver and coach have a strong relationship

It’s clear that Jon Gruden thinks a lot of Zay Jones. The feeling is mutual.

Jones, a Las Vegas Raiders’ wide receiver, credits his head coach for re-igniting his passion for the game in an interview with the team’s in-house TV show.

“I’ve said this to many people I’ve talked to, Gruden has kind of reignited that fire and that love, for me, with football again,” Jones said in the interview. “Football’s something that early on in my career, felt like a job a little bit. But Gruden has brought that passion that’s just like, ‘I enjoy playing this game again. I enjoy being out here.

“And he brings so much history of the game. He’s someone that can tie in Jerry Rice to Randy Moss to Fred Biletnikoff to someone more modern-day. And he just puts it all in this melting pot of film and it’s just fun. It’s creative. You never know what you’re going to get. It’s laughter, it’s jokes, but you can also get yelled at at the same time. So it’s a mixture of both.”

The Raiders re-signed Jones this offseason even though he has just 34 receptions in 26 games with the team. Yet, Gruden clearly sees something in Jones and the player is ready to reward his coach for his confidence.

In other Raiders’ links:

• No ESPN love: ESPN thinks the Raiders’ have the 26th best roster in the NFL. I’d say that is low.
• Bryan Edwards ready for a breakout year? Bleacher Report sure thinks he is.
• Agent game changer: With then NCAA rule change involving college athlete sponsorship, the NFL is allowing agents to get a jump on working with college player.