The first day of Raiders minicamp they were playing a lot of old school music over the systems. And at one point, they played Johnny Kemp’s classic banger “Just got paid” and cornerbacks Jack Jones and Nate Hobbs started doing a synchronized dance to it. Not unlike the dance from the music video itself.
— Levi Damien (@LeviDamien) June 11, 2024
It was pretty hilarious and the spontaneous dance was a perfect display of the bond of friendship these two players have. Not to mention the kind of energy this Raiders defense has had since midway through last season.
It’s no coincidence that energy arrived right around the time Jack Jones joined the team. That isn’t to say it was Jack Jones who is the reason for it. He’s not. Mainly it was the ousting of Josh McDaniels and the promotion of Antonio Pierce to interim head coach.
But one of first moves Pierce made as head coach was to sign Jones — who Pierce had coached in high school and college — who was waived by the Patriots.
Jones didn’t fit in with “the Patriot Way.” So, it was a good thing the Raiders had just gutted their team of that mindset.
When he arrived, he fit right in with his new teammates. Particularly with Hobbs.
“I feel like we have a lot of things in common,” Hobbs said of Jones. “I think he’s the guy – you can just tell he goes against the grain a little bit he’s just a dog, you can’t ever count him out. He’ll go toe to toe with anybody, he has that type of mentality. I feel like outside of football, we have kind of the same mentality. We’re both unpredictable, just never know what they’re going to do, but have a cool side to him. He’s just my dog, for real and a thorough dude, so I mess with him.”
Their lockers are next to each other at the stadium and following the season finale last seaon, they were both very vocal about wanting Pierce back as head coach. Echoing the sentiment shares by their teammates that Pierce allows them to be themselves.
Other players on the defense felt their best selves come out under Pierce including defensive linemen Malcolm Koonce, Maxx Crosby, and Adam Butler.
Crosby had arrived as a player long before that, but Butler and Koonce broke out in a big way. Koonce had eight sacks in nine games and Butler had sacks in each of the final three games and was made a priority to re-sign this offseason.
Crosby talked about the chemistry he and Butler had early on last offseason, but it really showed up on the field down the stretch last season.
Relationships like Crosby and Butler, Hobbs and Jones remain intact from last season and are looking to continue the momentum that had them finish the season as one of the league’s best defenses.
