After being helped off the field at Sunday’s practice, the Raiders got good news this week when it was determined his ankle injury is not expected to be season ending.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Jeanty avoided a high ankle sprain, and others have speculated that the timeline for return seems to be somewhere in the range of 3 to 6 weeks.
With that timeline, the season opener will be in jeopardy for Jeanty, but Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter talked about Jeanty’s ankle after Thursday’s game and he seemed to be sitting on some positive news regarding Jeanty’s ankle.
“Let’s talk about tonight. Didn’t see Ashton [Jeanty]. Didn’t expect to see Ashton. I’m not even remotely concerned about it, nor do I think any of you should be, either. That’s all I’m going to say and we’ll leave it right there,” Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast.
“I know there are some people trying to have Raider Nation panic. That’s nonsensical to me.”
Reading between the lines a little on Carpenter’s comments, it doesn’t sound like he expects Jeanty to miss any time.
For the Raiders’ part, head coach Klint Kubiak has already proven he is going to be as secretive with injuries as any of his predecessors. So it’s safe to assume to team won’t be offering updates on Jeanty’s status anytime soon.
The good news, though, is that in a scenario where Jeanty isn’t available week 1 or is limited, the Raiders have a rookie running back in Mike Washinton Jr. who has been phenomenal in preseason.
For fantasy football owners wondering about Jeanty’s health, the bigger risk to his production might be the presence of Washington, who will almost certainly eat into Jeanty’s carries if Jeanty isn’t 100 percent at the start of the season.
Before all the talk about Jeanty having a Christian McCaffrey-like workload this year, Carpenter talked on his podcast about how Kubiak prefers to use a two-back system.
“Klint Kubiak does not want a one back system,” Carpenter said in April. “Klint Kubiak isn’t desirous of a one back system. He’s got Ashton Jeanty and he’s not going to wear out all the tread on the tires. You’re going to see Washington play a lot. This kid is a great running back.”
And if the early timeshare goes well, why get away from what is working when Jeanty is back to full strength?
x: @raidersbeat