The Raiders have been hit with the injury bug in the last few weeks, but in the case of Ashton Jeanty, the news could have been a lot worse when he went down with what looked like a severe leg injury last month.
According to reports from practice on August 23, the entire team kneeled and prayed for Jeanty while he laid on the practice field being looked at by the training staff.
Jeanty talked this week with Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter about the injury experience and said he knew he was going to be alright when he saw the response of his teammates.
“It meant a lot, of course,” Jeanty said of his coaches and teammates taking a knee and praying for him.
“You know, Kubiak leading that, really being firm in his faith and getting everybody to get down and say a prayer. But also as a team just growing together in our faith. I think it’s a great thing to be able to share that with each other and the power of prayer is amazing. So in that moment, hearing that, seeing that, I already knew I was going to be good because God’s got me.”
Jeanty practice this week and every indication is that he is ready to go for Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins.
The Raiders may use a timeshare in the backfield, and every indication from training camp and preseason is that Mike Washington Jr. will be able to take some of the load away from Jeanty this year.
Kubiak has been sending mixed messages on how he plans to deploy his offensive backfield this year, but the consensus seems to be that he wants to stick with the two-back system he has preferred for years.
x: @raidersbeat