Raiders put a lot of trust in Pierce’s protégé to be top cornerback

By Case Keefer (contact)

Thursday, June 13, 2024 | 2 a.m.

Several Raiders players came out publicly in support of then-interim head Antonio Pierce in the two weeks after the end of last season while team owner Mark Davis conducted a search for the next permanent coach. 

Cornerback Jack Jones was not among them. That was mostly because the 26-year-old Jones had already repeatedly made his admiration for Pierce known ever since joining the Raiders last November, but also because he could barely bear to think about it. 

That’s how badly Jones hoped Pierce would remain in Las Vegas.

“I’m going to be honest, it was nerve-wracking for me,” Jones said after a recent practice. “It was like, ‘Man, I hope.’ I was praying.”

Prayers answered.

Davis’ decision to remove Pierce’s interim tag meant Jones would work under Pierce’s tutelage for a virtually unprecedented seventh season encompassing his high school, college and professional careers. 

Pierce famously coached Jones for two years at Long Beach Poly High School before recruiting him to Arizona State and then pushing the Raiders to claim him off waivers late last season.

Keeping Pierce always looked like the route to Jones earning the biggest possible share of opportunities heading into next year, and this offseason put an exclamation mark on that belief.

Despite expectations and rumors to the contrary, the Raiders neither selected a highly rated defensive back in the NFL Draft nor signed an established veteran in free agency. That leaves Jones as their bona fide No. 1 cornerback headed into training camp in late July in Costa Mesa, California.

It also makes him one of the most important players on the roster, a highly unusual role for a player to find himself in just months after getting released by his original team, the New England Patriots.

Jones flashed potential with the Patriots after being taken in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft, but his tenure was dotted with off-the-field incidents, including most notably an arrest on weapons charges at Boston’s Logan Airport last offseason.

“We want to have some consistency of things and we’re trying to iron Jackie out a little bit all the time,” said Raiders assistant head coach Marvin Lewis, who also worked with Jones at Arizona State. “He’s a very talented player, and I’ve had the pleasure to tell him, ‘Jack, it’s been five years now. Let’s move on, let’s get this moved to step B. We’re still on step A.’ He has a knack for making football plays, but I think it’s just still in the process of learning to be a pro day in and day out.”

The Raiders recently wrapped up the early portion/first month of its allotted practice schedule with mandatory minicamp from June 11-13 at their Henderson headquarters, where Jones was routinely one of the most attention-grabbing players.

Las Vegas’ defense mostly outperformed its offense during portions open to the media, and the unit wasn’t shy about its success. Jones was one of the loudest and liveliest defenders celebrating big plays, from his own pass break-ups to would-be sacks from the likes of edge rushers Maxx Crosby and Malcolm Koonce, if contact was permitted.

“Man, Jack’s a character, I love it,” new cornerbacks coach Ricky Manning Jr. said. “It’s funny because my wife and I always discuss this — he kind of looks like Nick Cannon to me. Everybody loves Nick Cannon, right? And Jack Jones, everybody loves him. He’s a good character guy, hungry, but he believes in second chances and being able to be here and have people that care about you.”

Splash plays and their ensuing swagger endeared Jones to the Raiders’ fan base immediately last year.

He had interceptions returned for touchdowns in back-to-back games, first in a record-breaking 63-21 thrashing of the LA Chargers, and then a shocking Christmas Day upset of the Kansas City Chiefs when he jumped a ball thrown by Patrick Mahomes.

Lewis has no doubt more big moments like that will come this season, but he’s more concerned about how Jones will respond to them. The play after the highlights were an issue last year, according to Lewis, as Jones would lose focus.

Lewis used one example in a Week 18 win against Denver, when Jones broke up a pass in the end zone on one play and then “didn’t move,” the next.

That’s the type of lapse that can’t be tolerated from a team’s top cornerback. The Raiders technically have another cornerback every bit as skilled and important as Jones, fourth-year veteran Nate Hobbs, but he’s established and at his best playing in the slot.

That means Jones will often have the most challenging assignments on the outside, and will also be tasked with helping along the likes of up-and-coming cornerbacks like second-year player Jakorian Bennett and rookie Decamerion Richardson.

Barring a late free agent addition, Bennett and Richardson will compete with veteran Brandon Facyson for the third starting cornerback spot, on the outside opposite of Jones.

“I’ve always looked at myself as a leader from high school all the way up,” Jones said. “I felt like I had some guys, some players looking up to me that I’m taking under my wing. So, as far as me stepping into that role, it’s not big for me, it’s just regular.”

Jones has stood out at every stop where he’s been coached by Pierce, emerging as one of the top high school recruits in the country and then turning into an All Pac-12 player at Arizona State.

He doesn’t see any reason why the NFL would be any different. Jones plans to repay Pierce’s and the Raiders’ confidence in him in a big way this season.

“I believe I’m a premier corner already,” Jones said. “I’m not really concerned about what (the media) say, respectfully. I just go out there and ball.”

This story originally appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.