Injury not what’s slowing down Ashton Jeanty, report says
When the Raiders hired Klint Kubiak in the offseason, no one in the building figured to benefit more from Kubiak’s presence than Ashton Jeanty.
Kubiak is known around the league as a running game guru, and many believed Jeanty was the best running back prospect to enter the draft since Saquon Barkley.
But five games into the 2026 season, Jeanty has put up pedestrian numbers in Kubiak’s offense, and his rushing average (3.3 YPC) is below what it was a year ago (3.7 YPC).
It’s no secret that Jeanty’s ankle has been an issue since he sprained it on August 23, but according to Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpener, the issue with the Raiders’ running game has not been Jeanty’s ankle.
“[The Patriots] were absolutely selling out today to stop the run,” Carpenter on Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast on Sunday night.
“If it was just injury related, I know for a fact, I’m not going to get into injury details, they would be playing Mike [Washington Jr.]. Mike is not better than Ashton and it’s not Ashton’s injury. I understand why people think it is, but I’m telling you based on their internal evaluation, he’s fine to play.”
Carpenter didn’t elaborate on Jeanty’s injury, but it sounds like his sources with the team believe there is another issue holding back the Las Vegas running game.
Raiders running game has bigger problems?
Whether his ankle is the issue or not, Jeanty hasn’t looked as explosive in recent weeks, but Carpenter believes there is a bigger problem with the running game, and that would presumably be the execution of the offensive line.
Similar to last year, Jeanty has not been afforded many running lanes since the first week of the season.
Pro Football Focus ranks the Raiders as the 26th-best run blocking team in the league, ahead of only the Commanders, Vikings, Giants, Packers, Buccaneers and Titans.
Specifically, PFF views Jackson Powers-Johnson and Spencer Burford as the weakest links along Kubiak’s offensive line in terms of run blocking.
Unfortunately for both, neither have excelled in pass protection, either.
x: @raidersbeat
the article says it all about offense. now let’s talk about the the defense, same ol ****
The entire team had KC hangover Sunday. Nobody showed up.
His ankle IS 100% DAMAGED maybe both now. I won’t believe he’s purposely tanking. Anyone with a clue that seen him last season to what he’s done since game 2 knows he’s probably 70% if that. I’m tired of beating the dead horse that his health is. And these moronic beat off writers love stirring the pot of rhetoric.