Jack Jones eager to capitalize on fresh start with Raiders

HENDERSON, Nev. -- One fleeting thought entered Jack Jones' mind as the he broke on the ball.

"Damn, I overran it!"

The Las Vegas Raiders cornerback had so successfully sniffed out Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Easton Stick's screen pass to Austin Ekeler that Jones, already 6 yards into the offensive backfield and flying through the air, had to make another adjustment.

"So I reached back and it stuck," he laughed, referring to his throwing back his right hand mid-flight.

"I'm like, 'Oh yeah!' For real, though."

Sixteen yards later, Jones had his second career pick-six, and the Raiders, after the ensuing PAT, had a single-game franchise-record 63 points en route to finishing off the Chargers 63-21 Thursday night in front of a raucous crowd at Allegiant Stadium.

And while Jones' record-setting play was more the result of film study than unabandoned gambling, the Raiders are hoping their gamble on Jones pays off in similar fashion. Because while Jones has always been seen as having talent and a high ceiling -- the New England Patriots thought enough of Jones to draft him in the fourth round in 2022 -- he has often been his own worst enemy when it comes to off-the-field issues.

Enter Raiders interim coach Antonio Pierce, who has known Jones since coaching him at Long Beach Poly High School in Southern California, where Jones was a five-star recruit who initially played at USC before being dismissed for academic issues. He then was arrested for commercial burglary after breaking into a Panda Express restaurant in the summer of 2018.

Jones went the junior college route at Moorpark (Calif.) College before rejoining Pierce at Arizona State, where Pierce was a linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator on Herm Edwards' staff, and then being drafted by the Patriots.

"He's always been a wild card, sometimes hit or miss, good or bad," Pierce said of Jones. "But he's a very good football player. Football means a lot to Jack. Football is a way for him to get out of the hood, to be honest, where he came from. He used those resources to benefit his life, his family. He went to school, went to ASU and got a degree.

"He's a father, a good man. Been in some trouble. The kid loves to smile. Every time you see him, he's smiling. He loves football. Can't have enough of those guys around that love football."

It was in Jones' first start last season, for the Patriots in Week 4 against the Green Bay Packers, when he picked off Aaron Rodgers and returned the interception 40 yards for his first career pick-six. But late in his rookie season, Jones was suspended for an unspecified violation of club rules and in June, he was arrested at Boston's Logan Airport after two firearms were found in his travel luggage.

He was projected to be a starter for New England entering this season, but a hamstring injury landed him on injured reserve. And after returning from IR, he missed curfew, was benched, saw his snap count go down and was waived on Nov. 13.

A day later, less than two weeks after Pierce was promoted from linebackers coach to interim head coach, the Raiders claimed Jones off waivers.

"He means everything to me," Jones said of Pierce. "He's damn near like a father figure ... from high school all the way up until now. Just mentoring me through the ups and downs. Man, he's a big piece of my life.

"I mean, without him, who knows where I'd be at."

In four games off the bench for the Raiders, Jones' defensive playtime percentages have gone from 17% in his Week 11 debut at the Miami Dolphins to 67% against the Kansas City Chiefs to 83% against the Minnesota Vikings to 82% against the Chargers. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound Jones has 15 tackles and two passes defensed for Las Vegas to go with his pick-six.

And no one was happier for the second-year corner after his jumping the route to score than Pierce.

"I always call it a business decision, right? Make a good business decision," Pierce said. "But more importantly, it's film study. I mean, that play has shown up -- I've been here two years now -- that's been one of [the Chargers'] staples -- four by one, running back motions in, and we're all coming out with the screen and the screen is always next, right? We knew that. But they didn't [know we knew] and they stayed on track.

"Sometimes, as a player, you have a knack and a feel for it, and you never want to take that away from somebody ... that opportunity to anticipate, to make a play. But again, I'm going to go back to it, it's an educated guess. It's not a random guess and I think that's good by our coaches. And obviously Jack Jones took advantage of an opportunity."

Pierce said the entire Raiders coaching staff called out the coming screen on the sidelines.

"A lot of guys learn in a lot of different ways and that's what you learn as a coach," Pierce said. "Some guys are film guys, some guys are walk-through guys, some guys [say], Give me all the drawings. But then, every once in a while, you get a guy that sees it all, and Jack Jones is one of them.

"We have quite a few players on our defense. But again, I'm going to go back to just our coaches. I think that's a credit to those gentlemen, just getting ready, getting [Jones] in. He wasn't here the first time we played the Chargers, so obviously he paid attention in the classroom, and it paid off."

For both player and team.