Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty is back and practicing, and he's ready to go against Miami.
The Las Vegas Raiders lost tight end Brock Bowers this week, but they did get running back Ashton Jeanty back on the field after he sustained what looked like a serious ankle injury during the week of practice after preseason games.
Jeanty is good to go and practicing, and he discussed his status in a piece from Ryan McFadden of ESPN this week, saying he’s “really good” and “super excited” to play in the Raiders’s season opener against the Miami Dolphins at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday.
The running back returned to practice on Wednesday, and he was able to follow up on Thursday, thus “increasing the likelihood of his availability for Week 1,” per McFadden.
Jeanty sustained the injury diving for a low throw from quarterback Kirk Cousins, and initially he had to be helped off the field by trainers. But the injury wasn’t serious, and the running back began doing agility work at the beginning of the week.
He added that he didn’t have any concerns about playing against Miami, despite a series of vague updates from coach Klint Kubiak that left room for doubts.
"I knew it wasn't anything too bad, even though I couldn't put pressure on my foot," Jeanty said yesterday as he talked about the injury for first time since sustaining it. "...I figured it wouldn't be anything that's too long-term."
The Bowers injury is the larger story, especially given the state of the Raiders offense and the way the schedule is laid out. The receivers haven’t played will in training camp or in the preseason games, so most of the offense was expected to revolve around Bowers and fellow tight end Michael Mayer, along with a viable ground game behind a revamped offensive line.
That presumably goes out the window now, so it seems reasonable to expect that both Jeanty and rookie running back Mike Washington Jr. will get plenty of snaps.
Another wrinkle to look for here is Jeanty as a receiver. He had some success in that role when the Raiders split him out wide, and Kubiak might look to do more of that with Bowers unavailable on Sunday.
The game is also important from a schedule perspective. The Raiders don’t have many winnable games given the total rebuild they’re doing, and Sunday’s tilt against Miami and a road game against the New Orleans Saints are the two big possibilities for September.
