Wide receiver Zay Jones left East Carolina with 399 catches over the course of his collegiate career, which was enough to make him the all-time leader for catches at the highest level of college football.
The catches haven’t been coming quite as quickly as a professional. Jones has seven catches through his first six games with the Bills and that number looks even punier when taking into account how often the ball has gone Jones’ way. He’s been targeted 32 times, more than anyone on the Bills other than LeSean McCoy, and his catch rate is the lowest in the league for anyone who has had 20 passes thrown his way.
In a film review of the Bills’ first six games, Mike Rodak of ESPN found that 12 of those passes were not catchable but the remaining numbers still aren’t where they need to be for a starting wideout. That’s led to criticism and Jones isn’t arguing against it.
“It’s fair,” Jones said, via ESPN.com. “I expect a lot of myself. I know my coaches do. The players around me do. It’s really fair, to be honest. Wherever the ball is, it’s my job to catch it and do the best I can. I accept it fully and do the best I can. So I accept it fully. I’m not running from it. But I know things are going to get better. My time will come.”
Quarterback Tyrod Taylor said the team will continue to look Jones’ way because there’s “not any confidence lost” in the rookie at this point. The Bills have Jordan Matthews back from a thumb injury and Deonte Thompson had a rousing debut last Sunday, though, so there are more options at receiver than at other points if they want to look in another direction.
