Raiders News: Martavis Bryant Struggling to Pick Up Jon Gruden's Playbook

The Oakland Raiders have grown somewhat frustrated with offseason acquisition Martavis Bryant because he is struggling to learn head coach Jon Gruden's playbook. 

Former Raiders receiver James Jones, who works as an analyst for NFL Network, revealed Bryant's early issues with his new team.

"I just had a chance to speak with [offensive coordinator Greg Olson] and he said talent-wise, there's probably nobody that can compete with [Bryant] talent-wise," Jones said (h/t Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith). "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."

The Raiders sent a third-round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers in order to add Bryant. Pittsburgh packaged that pick (79th overall) together with the 220th overall selection to get Mason Rudolph.

Beyond just the compensation required to trade for Bryant, Oakland staked a lot in the 26-year-old pass-catcher. Signing Jordy Nelson, who turned 33 in May and is coming off a disappointing 2017, was the team's only other move to upgrade the receiving corps.

Surrounding Derek Carr with quality receivers is pivotal in 2018. He regressed a bit last season, with his numbers down across the board. He threw for 3,496 yards, 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions with an 86.4 passer rating.

Carr finished 20th in Bleacher Report's NFL1000 year-end rankings of the top quarterbacks.

In particular, Bryant's arrival addresses the fact Carr ranked 19th in yards per attempt (6.79). Bryant is averaging 15.2 yards per reception through three seasons, which is nearly a yard more than Nelson and Amari Cooper, who are averaging 14.3 yards per catch.

The fact Bryant is slow in adjusting to Oakland's offensive scheme presents plenty of headaches for the coaching staff with the regular season kicking off in a little over a month Sept. 10 against the Los Angeles Rams.