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Zay-Hey! Jaguars wide receiver Zay Jones has a career day in dramatic fourth-quarter rally

Garry Smits, Florida Times-Union
·4 min read

Zay Jones caught the first pass of the game from Trevor Lawrence — and the last.

A 24-yard reception and the game-winning two-point conversion pass, plus everything in between, added up to a career game for the Jaguars' sixth-year wide receiver and one that cracked the team's record books as among the best performances at his position.

"Unbelievable, man," he said in a jubilant locker room. "Very exciting."

Jones caught 11 passes for 145 yards, both career highs, in Sunday's 28-27 victory over the Baltimore Ravens in front of an emotionally exhausted crowd of 59,560 that watched the two teams swap the lead seven times, three times in the last 2:19.

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Jones caught five passes for 79 yards on three scoring drives in the fourth quarter and two of them were huge: Lawrence connected with Jones for a 27-yard gain on fourth-and-eight from the Ravens' 45 with less than nine minutes to go, the big play in a 14-play, 75-yard drive that cut Baltimore's lead to 19-17.

Following a Ravens scoring drive that gave them a 27-20 lead, Jones caught a 29-yard pass from Lawrence on third-and-six from the Ravens' 39.

Jaguars wide receiver Zay Jones pulls down one of his career-high 11 receptions on Sunday in a 28-27 victory over Baltimore.
Jaguars wide receiver Zay Jones pulls down one of his career-high 11 receptions on Sunday in a 28-27 victory over Baltimore.

After Lawrence threw a 10-yard TD pass to Marvin Jones with 14 seconds left, the huge gamble by coach Doug Pederson to go for the two-point conversion, rather than play for overtime with a kick, paid off when Lawrence hit Zay Jones on the left side.

Jones lined up in the slot on the right, motioned left, and caught Lawrence's pass in stride in the end zone, easily beating Ravens' cornerback Brandon Stephens.

Pederson sent the field-goal team out initially but after the touchdown to Marvin Jones was reviewed and upheld, he changed his mind and went to Zay Jones.

"Doug said, 'I'm going to think players and not plays,'" Jones said. "He called my number and asked, 'what do you think?' He showed a lot of trust in me ... such an amazing play and such an amazing team win for us."

Lawrence said he loved the play call when Pederson told him.

"There was no doubt we were going to get the two-point conversion," he said. "We felt great about that play. Zay ran a good route, he's the guy we felt great about and just executed."

Zay Jones (7) celebrates his two-point conversion reception on Sunday, which was the deciding points in a 28-27 victory over Baltimore.
Zay Jones (7) celebrates his two-point conversion reception on Sunday, which was the deciding points in a 28-27 victory over Baltimore.

Pederson said it's his pattern to keep calling plays for the hot receiver in a game and it was clear early on it was going to be Zay Jones.

"He just kept making plays," Pederson said. "Our plans each week is to get the guys the football. Zay is one of them, Christian's [Kirk] one of them, Marv [Marvin Jones] ... all those guys. Sometimes it's who has the hot hand, and Zay really played extremely well, and what a tough couple catches down the stretch. Obviously none bigger than that two-point conversion."

Jones, the most prolific receiver in NCAA history with 399 career catches at East Carolina, surpassed 100 yards in a game for only the second time as a pro and beat his previous high for receptions in one game. His previous best in both categories was in 2021 for Las Vegas when he caught 10 passes for 120 yards in a 23-20 victory over Indianapolis.

His 11 catches matched the most in a game by a Jaguar since Allen Hurns caught 11 on Oct. 4, 2015, in a 16-13 overtime loss to the Colts, and was the most in one game since Justin Blackmon had 14 receptions on Oct. 13, 2013, in a 35-19 loss at Denver.

The team record is 16 receptions by Keenan McCardell on Oct. 20, 1996 in a 17-14 loss to the Rams.

Jones' receiving yardage was the most since D.J. Chark caught seven passes for 146 yards in a 27-25 loss to Houston on Nov. 8, 2020.

Lawrence completed 29 of 37 passes for 321 yards and threw TD passes to Marvin Jones, Jamal Agnew and JaMycal Hasty.

While the Ravens are historically a tough defense, they've struggled against the pass this season and entered the game 27th in the NFL in passing yardage allowed per game.

Jones said simply, "They're a good defensive unit ... a lot of respect for them and who they have in their defensive back room. But we liked our matchups."

Contact Garry Smits at gsmits@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @GSmitter

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars wide receiver Zay Jones has a career day vs. Ravens