Zay Jones

Jones was born on March 30, 1995 in Dallas, Texas, the son of Robert Jones, a former football player who spent ten years in the NFL, and Maneesha Jones. He has two brothers, Cayleb and Levi and his uncle is Jeff Blake. Jones attended Stephen F. Austin High School in Austin, Texas. He committed to East Carolina University to play college football.

Jones played in 13 games and made eight starts as a true freshman at East Carolina in 2013. He finished second on the team with 62 receptions for 604 yards and five touchdowns. As a sophomore, he had 81 receptions for 830 yards and five touchdowns. As a junior, he recorded 98 receptions for 1,099 yards and five touchdowns. During his senior season in 2016, he set a school record for receptions in a game with 22, breaking the previous record of 17 held by Justin Hardy and then went on to break the school record for receptions in a season, also held by Hardy, nine games into the season. Subsequently, Jones became the NCAA Division I football all-time single season leader in receptions with 158 for the 2016 season, breaking the previous record of 155 set by wide receiver Freddie Barnes of Bowling Green in 2009. Additionally, Jones became the NCAA Division I football career leader in receptions with 399, breaking the all-time NCAA record of 387 held by his former ECU Pirate teammate and future NFL receiver Justin Hardy. Jones was also named as one of three finalists for the 2016 Biletnikoff Award, which is given annually to the nation's best receiver in college football.

The Buffalo Bills selected Jones in the second round with the 37th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. On May 18, the Bills signed Jones to a four-year, $6.77 million contract with $3.84 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $3.07 million.

On September 10, 2017, Jones made his NFL debut. He had one reception for 21 yards in the 21–12 victory over the New York Jets. On September 17, 2017, in Week 2, he barely missed on a potential game-winning pass from quarterback Tyrod Taylor on fourth down late in the game of a 9–3 loss to the Carolina Panthers. In Week 9, against the New York Jets, he recorded six receptions for 53 yards and his first career receiving touchdown. In 15 games (10 starts) of his rookie year in 2017, Jones finished with 316 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

On March 21, 2018, Jones was arrested in Los Angeles for suspicion of felony vandalism. Jones was involved in an altercation with his older brother, NFL player Cayleb Jones, on the 30th floor of an apartment building. Zay Jones allegedly smashed a window, resulting in cuts on his foot and blood all along the walls, and tried to jump out the 30th floor window, but with Cayleb and police stopping it.

On October 7, 2019, Jones was traded to the Oakland Raiders for a 2021 fifth-round pick.

During the Raiders' first home game in Allegiant Stadium upon relocating to Las Vegas, Jones caught his first touchdown since 2018 in a 34–24 Raiders win over the New Orleans Saints. Jones was fined US$15,000 by the NFL on October 5, 2020, for attending a maskless charity event hosted by teammate Darren Waller during the COVID-19 pandemic in violation of the NFL's COVID-19 protocols for the 2020 season.