James Jones claims Martavis Bryant ‘not picking up’ Raiders playbook

One of the major acquisitions that the Oakland Raiders made this offseason was the addition of veteran wide receiver Martavis Bryant in a draft day trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

However, it hasn’t exactly gone as smoothly as anticipated as former NFL wide receiver and current NFL Network analyst James Jons has voiced that Bryant has struggled to learn the new playbook under head coach Jon Gruden this offseason, via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk.

“I just had a chance to speak with Coach Olson and he said talent-wise, there’s probably nobody that can compete with [Bryant] talent-wise,” Jones said. “But they said he’s not picking up the playbook, and that’s the reason of a little frustration right now because they want to get him on the field but he’s not able to grasp the playbook yet.”

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This is a discouraging sign for the Raiders with their hopes that Bryant can be a major factor in the passing game alongside former Pro Bowlers Amari Cooper and Jordy Nelson as the primary targets for quarterback Derek Carr. He has shown the ability to stretch the field as a legitimate deep-ball threat that can stretch the field while providing another element to the offense that Oakland has been lacking over the last few years.

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He is coming off yet another productive campaign by recording 50 catches on 84 targets for 603 receiving yards with three touchdowns. This included posting six games with at least four catches while topping 60 receiving yards on three occasions. Though his first three years in the league, he notched more than 500 receiving yards in each year while hauling 17 total touchdowns during that stretch.

Although this isn’t the most promising sign, there is still plenty of time for him to make improvements in his knowledge and understanding of the offensive scheme over the next few weeks in training camp and the preseason.