The Las Vegas Raiders lost their lead back to an injury, which means his backup could step up and take the job.
The Las Vegas Raiders just lost running back Ashton Jeanty to an ankle sprain that appeared to be serious when he sustained it on Sunday, and this injury could flip the script for Las Vegas with rookie running back Mike Washington Jr. playing well in the preseason so far and showing some big-play potential along the way.
Nothing is carved in stone here given how little we know about the implications of the Jeanty injury right now, but this could represent a big change going forward.
Jeanty has been an ongoing disappointment since he was overdrafted with the No. 6 pick last year, and the kinds of chunk plays and game-breakers Washington has provided were exactly what the Raiders would hope Jeanty could provide this year.
Coach Klint Kubiak hasn’t said much about this, although he did comment that Jeanty is “on the mend” when he was asked about the possibility of putting Jeanty on injured reserve today after practice, according to a report from Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk.
Kubiak also smiled and noted the”power of prayer” when he referenced the team coming together to take a knee after the injury was sustained, as Jeanty couldn’t put any weight on his leg initially when he got up. He was assisted by trainers, and his comments were interpreted as meaning the injury wasn’t that serious.
Still, it’s fair to wonder about what will happen given this situation going forward. Ankle sprains can be notorious tough to heal sometimes, especially if it’s the dreaded high ankle sprain, which is what happened to left tackle Kolton Miller last year until the Raides finally acknowledged that Miller had a stress fracture in the injured leg.
Jeanty has been a disappointment to date, although it’s not his fault that he hasn’t had any room to run behind an offense that’s been a disaster. There was a lot of eagerness to see him on the field after he made a cameo in the Raiders opening 27-14 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Now that won’t happen for a while given the time of the injury, and there’s a chance that Washington could continue to show out and improve in this week’s preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers.
The Raiders need playmakers and offense from wherever they can get it, and it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Kubiak will simply go with the hot hand and ride Washingon as the lead back for at least the first few weeks of the season.
