Zay Jones played injured all season...

[hemma]

Shoulder injury can definitely get into your head .... "How can I do X without pain?"

Anybody here that is in construction can probably remember a period when they thought their arm would just fall off like a rag.

Brushing your teeth or shaving can be a challenge.

[Punching Bag]

2 hours ago, Doc said:

 

The shoulder bone's connected to the...oh, never mind!

 

And isn't this a violation of the league's injury reporting policy?

 

Yes unless you are Cheats.  Maybe he did not tell team.

 

And I do not think he will get better w/o a new WR coach.

1 hour ago, hondo in seattle said:

A shoulder injury could explain some of the drops.  It doesn't explain the lack of separation.

Then again, he was just a rook.  Some WRs need a year or two to adapt to the NFL.

 

I hope he does not have a sophomore slump.

[Boatdrinks]

2 hours ago, John from Hemet said:

In all seriousness.....does anyone REALLY think this kid is not going to get better?

 

The character is too high....the work ethic is too high.....he already has the physical tools

He's in his own mind now, was even double clutching the balls he did catch. I'd say it's about a50-50 shot he's ever any good. Totally on him to turn it around. 

Edited January 14, 2018 by Boatdrinks

[B Fan in LA]

2 hours ago, Domdab99 said:

This is actually good news...maybe a healthy Zay will do better next year.

 

Correction, this COULD be good news, but it doesn't explain why the coaching staff allowed him to play every week,

IF he had a bad shoulder. Zay might be moved to the trade list if some other team is dumb enough to believe this story.

 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

2 hours ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

 

 

Maybe he'll have his hands fixed while he's at it. 

They are only calling it ‘shoulder’ because it’s the last step of the procedure.... I think 

[Nick the Greek]

Sounds like Sammy during his freshman season with the Bills. Was hurt all season too. 

[Victory Formation]

It all makes sense now. I never expected him to be an elite WR but I did think he would be a serviceable. I wanted Darboh and Kuup over Zay Jones but it's over with. This makes me respect Zay Jones a bit more, he is definitely no snowflake to be playing hurt like that.

[BillsVet]

1 hour ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

 

 

I doubt no one on the coaching staff knew he was battling this injury. Gotta wonder if the league will review this in light of him never being on the injury report.

[Dadonkadonk]

Hmmm.  Never on the injury report.  Did he hide injury from team or did Bills hide from NFL?

[reddogblitz]

5 hours ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

 

Since when has desire and effort guaranteed improvement. I'm not saying it won't happen, but there was very little to get excited about 

 

Don't confuse effort with results 

5 hours ago, fridge said:

Injury or not, he can only improve, right?

 

Not necessarily.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

6 hours ago, Domdab99 said:

...and apparently will have surgery to repair his shoulder.

 

This is actually good news...maybe a healthy Zay will do better next year.

 

Might want to repair those hands too .

 

 

[nucci]

Most football players play injured

[8-8 Forever?]

He'll be fine.   Classic 1st year learning curve.   HIs dad was a big time NFL player, he will get better.  

[BuffAlone]

9 hours ago, John from Hemet said:

In all seriousness.....does anyone REALLY think this kid is not going to get better?

 

The character is too high....the work ethic is too high.....he already has the physical tools

Agreed! The kid caught 399 balls in college people. His hands are fine. If anything, I hope his nerves settle down and we find an outside WR this offseason so he can move back to his natural slot position

Edited January 14, 2018 by BuffAlone

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

8 hours ago, OldTimer1960 said:

I hope for better from you than comments like that.  You are knowledgeable.

 

No he’s not.

[Chandler#81]

9 hours ago, John from Hemet said:

In all seriousness.....does anyone REALLY think this kid is not going to get better?

 

The character is too high....the work ethic is too high.....he already has the physical tools

Stopping just short of saying yes, I saw nothing to suggest he’ll be here for the 4 years of his contract. For such a prolific college career, he’s a sloppy route runner and his league worst ratio of passes/completions isn't a fluke. If a damaged shoulder prevents a WR from catching MULTIPLE passes right into his hands or belly, then wth was he even doing being active? Does a damaged shoulder prevent a WR from breaking a tackle? I don’t recall a single broken tackle adding any YAC. Then again, a WR has to actually catch a pass before considering what to do next. 

Starting so many games shouldn’t be viewed as being a productive rookie. We know it was because there was nobody else on the roster.

[simpleman]

9 hours ago, Ol Dirty B said:

If the shoulder injury is what made him play so poorly then he should have been shut down when it was apparent he couldn't play effectively through it.

I agree. If he was so injured he could not play well, by continuing to start him, it is just yet another case of bad management by the coaching staff.  An injury like this that so affected his performance may excuse him for being a gamer and trying to play through an injury, but it offers no excuse for bad management by the Bills.

 

 

 

[Jpsredemption]

He was brutal...we will see but he's not stopping me one bit from looking at receivers this offseason.

[NoSaint]

11 hours ago, John from Hemet said:

In all seriousness.....does anyone REALLY think this kid is not going to get better?

 

The character is too high....the work ethic is too high.....he already has the physical tools

 

 

Its really a bit bit of a coin flip. I said the same early but the longer it dragged the harder it might be to right the ship. I’m not one to Bank much on preseason, but I hope he has a really strong August and makes a few big plays right out of the gate in September. If he rolls into the season without many touches and has a rough week 1- even you have to worry some, right?

[Hebert19]

This wouldn't allow him to get off the line very well using his hands that's for sure.  May have hurt his ability to separate on slants and even quick routes.  

 

I think the other thing is when you look at all 22 tyrod missed him a lot. 

[BobChalmers]

12 hours ago, aceman_16 said:

LOL... does a hurt shoulder make the hands weaker? we'll see....

 

Actually, I am sure it would, if by "hands" one means "ability to catch" and grip a ball.  More arm, shoulder, and chest strength involved than actual hands.

Edited January 14, 2018 by BobChalmers

[cd1]

12 hours ago, aceman_16 said:

LOL... does a hurt shoulder make the hands weaker? we'll see....

 

YES, YES it does!

 

A hurt shoulder can drop you to your knees.

 

This is good news. I hope the surgery will restore him to his college form.

[Mr. WEO]

2 hours ago, Chandler#81 said:

Stopping just short of saying yes, I saw nothing to suggest he’ll be here for the 4 years of his contract. For such a prolific college career, he’s a sloppy route runner and his league worst ratio of passes/completions isn't a fluke. If a damaged shoulder prevents a WR from catching MULTIPLE passes right into his hands or belly, then wth was he even doing being active? Does a damaged shoulder prevent a WR from breaking a tackle? I don’t recall a single broken tackle adding any YAC. Then again, a WR has to actually catch a pass before considering what to do next. 

Starting so many games shouldn’t be viewed as being a productive rookie. We know it was because there was nobody else on the roster.

 

This sums it up perfectly.

 

[JohnC]

12 hours ago, John from Hemet said:

In all seriousness.....does anyone REALLY think this kid is not going to get better?

 

The character is too high....the work ethic is too high.....he already has the physical tools

If there is any player to bet on who is going to make a major leap forward is this kid. As you noted he has the tools and the work ethic to translate into production. He was too productive in college not to believe that it can't translate to the pro game. The next step is to get a qb who can accurately throw and read defenses. 

[Gugny]

12 hours ago, John from Hemet said:

In all seriousness.....does anyone REALLY think this kid is not going to get better?

 

The character is too high....the work ethic is too high.....he already has the physical tools

 

I'd list the QBs we've said these exact same things about over the past 18 years, but I don't want to crash TBD.

[Irv]

12 hours ago, oldmanfan said:

He'll get better.

 

That would not be too difficult because he SUCKED.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

13 hours ago, aceman_16 said:

LOL... does a hurt shoulder make the hands weaker? we'll see....

 

I injured a nerve in my shoulder coming up 3 years ago whilst attending my mom in an ICU/CCU stay.  Nothing was torn or dislocated.  The pain was so bad I couldn't sleep without drugs, and ordinary hand movements to grasp and move objects like coffee pots, potted plants etc brought shooting pain where I had to fight the natural reflex to let go (and drop it).

 

It seems entirely plausible to me based on that experience (not weaker per se but slower to react and more difficult to make grip)

33 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

I'd list the QBs we've said these exact same things about over the past 18 years, but I don't want to crash TBD.

 

If them's Bills QBs it's all too short of a list

[hemma]

1 hour ago, BobChalmers said:

 

Actually, I am sure it would, if by "hands" one means "ability to catch" and grip a ball.  More arm, shoulder, and chest strength involved than actual hands.

 

If any 'outside force' (aka, a DB) pulled at the ball, it would feel like your arm was being torn out of the socket.

 

Probably should have been sent to IR.

 

[Doc]

Way too early to write him off.  That being said, they need to add a speed WR to the mix, and probably earlier rather than later.

[richardb1952]

Probably didn't help that TT threw quite a few passes bordering on "out of reach" with that type of injury.  Let's hope the torn labrum contributed to some of the poor performance.  He appears to be hard worker, and I like that he still tried to gut it out and it is only heard about after the season.

Edited January 14, 2018 by richardb1952

[HankBulloughMellencamp]

9 minutes ago, JohnC said:

If there is any player to bet on who is going to make a major leap forward is this kid. As you noted he has the tools and the work ethic to translate into production. He was too productive in college not to believe that it can't translate to the pro game. The next step is to get a qb who can accurately throw and read defenses. 

 

Zay had me at 'wearing the OJ chase t-shirt on draft day'.... but I wouldn't bet a nickel on him making any major leaps forward. 

 

Zay is a borderline bust, an almost first-round draft pick who could not hang onto the ball.  It always seemed to glance off his mitts as though they were frying pans.  He needs to dramatically improve this to see the field again, let alone stick in this league.  I don't really care about the labrum injury, or who his dad is, or whatever he did at ECU.  

 

I always hate looking back at who was picked in the draft and complaining about the guy we settled on.  Draft hindsight is always 20/20, and the fact that we hired Zay's college coach as his position coach is only hurting my belief in him at this point. 

 

JuJu Smith-Schuster was taken about 25 picks after Zay, and has so outperformed him (and nearly every other NFL WR) in the last half of his rookie season that it is mind-boggling.  I realize Juju has a much better, likely HOF-caliber QB... but #19 has been nothing short of a dynamic playmaker for Pittsburgh who stole Martavis Bryant's job in short order.  I would argue he is probably already among the top 5 WRs in the league at this moment.  He can do it all.

 

And that semi-cheapshot crackback on Vontaze Burfict a few weeks ago was just magnificent, and could only be administered by a player with immensely brass stones.  Juju is 6'3", and just turned 21 maybe a month ago.  But If he didn't fully commit to that crackback on a true cheap shot artist who outweighs him by about 35 lbs., #19 would probably have taken the impact himself.  For Burfict, it was a beautiful representation of the karma police a-calling in that tough Steeler/Bengal rivalry.  

 

I think Zay might seriously need to try a sports psychologist this offseason.  It was that bad.  

 

And I can't wait to see what Juju can do against those Jags DBs today!

 

 

[C.Biscuit97]

I like Zay. He got forced into a role he wasn't ready for, with a shaky passing qb, and struggled with confidence.  WIth an upgrade at qb and wr, I think he will be a productively player next year. 

[NoSaint]

7 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

They can't go into the season with Zay slotted as the 2nd or even 3rd WR on the depth chart. 

 

Need an upgrade opposite Benjamin.

 

I’ve been loud about adding 1, if not 2, guys. 

 

If we can use next years first (or by miracle stay put) and get the qb with 21 and not a lot more this year— we can quickly add a LB, CB, WR and RB by the end of the third (I know this board looooves rb and cb on that list)

 

pick up an offensive and defensive lineman in free agency and you could actually have most holes fillled and work in a little depth with lower tier signings and picks in the 4-5th rounds

[smuvtalker]

13 hours ago, WMDman said:

hope the kid heals alright and will be ready to tear it up next season!

Dangerous choice of words....hope you didn't just jinx the kid ☺

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

13 hours ago, John from Hemet said:

In all seriousness.....does anyone REALLY think this kid is not going to get better?

 

The character is too high....the work ethic is too high.....he already has the physical tools

 

You forgot to add that the first year bar is low too.

[starrymessenger]

11 hours ago, Idandria said:

Sounds like Sammy during his freshman season with the Bills. Was hurt all season too. 

 

Sorta like Mike Williams and Corey Davis. Guess they suck too lol. 

[MrEpsYtown]

It's tough for these gadgety receivers to make their mark as rookies. A lot of them really struggle initially. I do like that fact that he never complained about the injury as the year was going. It would have been easy to make excuses when he was dropping big passes. While he is still technically making excuses, I'm glad it came after the season. 

[BillsFan130]

15 hours ago, John from Hemet said:

In all seriousness.....does anyone REALLY think this kid is not going to get better?

 

The character is too high....the work ethic is too high.....he already has the physical tools

Well he can’t get any worse can he? Lol

[LABILLBACKER]

With our qb situation it really didn't matter whether our wr's we're healthy or not. Because TT rarely threw to them.  I appreciate Zay's determination in playing hurt, but he should've stepped down and give other guys like Reilly an opportunity.  When Sammy played hurt it just didn't work out.  He'll be better this fall alongside a healed KB.

[Irv]

Let's not make excuses for the bum. How many balls were right in his hands and he could not hang on.  Don't blame Tyrod for those.  Kid can't catch the damn ball.  Should be released.