Buffalo Bills wide receiver Zay Jones missed minicamp after having surgery, opening up an opportunity for another player to take his place.
The Buffalo Bills have been without Zay Jones for offseason workouts after the second-year receiver had knee surgery.
He rebounded from his offseason incident and seems set to improve upon his rookie year as a starting receiver for this team. But his absence has opened up an enormous opportunity for the other receivers on the roster.
An article on NYup.com shares a quote from Brandon Beane explaining that Jones will still have to work hard to be a starter once again. That is an obvious thing to say and it is hard to argue with that. What Beane doesn’t mention is how some of the other receivers have stepped up so far.
Rookies like Austin Proehl, Ray-Ray McCloud and Robert Foster have already flashed some talent and have shown up in the coverage surrounding the recent minicamp. The team also brought in Jeremy Kerley, who is looking to earn a spot on this roster.
Jeremy Kerley and Andre Holmes also in with first team. So at least 7-8 receivers seeing time with 1s today.
— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) June 12, 2018
As the above tweet shows, every receiver on this roster is getting a shot to prove they belong. And all this early exposure with Jones out only helps the case of the ones who shine in front of the coaching staff.
Jones was not drafted by Beane, but he is still a second-round pick so he won’t be at risk of a surprise cut this offseason. However, if he has another lackluster season he may be out of the team’s plans heading into 2019.
As with all the other position battles being talked about, the recent mandatory minicamp was too short to form any concrete evaluations of the talent on the team. If that wasn’t the case, Bills fans may be preparing for a season in which Nathan Peterman‘s top target is Jeremy Kerley.
Next: Bills 2018 Position Battles: Right and left guard
It could happen, but the work done in training camp will determine the depth chart. This will be an important time for Zay Jones to prove that his absence will mean nothing once Week 1 comes around,