When the Raiders play the Patriots on Sunday, it will mark 28 days since Ashton Jeanty had his ankle injury reaggravated in the fourth quarter against the Dolphins.
Since September 13, Jeanty hasn’t looked like himself and he acknowledged after last week’s game that he is still working to making his ankle stronger.
“I’m feeling all right,” Jeanty said after Sunday’s game against the Chiefs. “I mean, just got to get back to work, and keep rehabbing and keep making it stronger.”
Jeanty hobbled off the field on more than one occasion against the Chiefs and there’s no question he has been having a hard time getting back to full strength with his ankle taking so much abuse on Sundays.
There hasn’t been a lot of information on Jeanty’s ankle in recent weeks, but in getting nearly 75 percent of the carries through the first month of the season, the coaching staff has been using Jeanty like he’s healthy.
After four weeks, though, it’s not ideal that Jeanty is still being slowed down by his ankle and for the first time this week, the Raiders limited him at practice on Thursday.
Officially, Jeanty hasn’t been listed as ‘limited’ in practice since before the start of the regular season.
Will the Raiders lighten Jeanty’s workload on Sunday?
At some point, it might become necessary to pull back on Jeanty’s workload and give Mike Washinton Jr. more carries.
Jeanty at 85 percent, or whatever he has been for the last weeks, has led to 3.4 yards per carry, and that’s even worse than where he finished the season a year ago (3.7 YPC).
The offensive line hasn’t been great as a run-blocking group, but Jeanty hasn’t made many defenders miss, either.
Maybe this will be the week that Jeanty’s ankle turns the corner, but if not, something probably needs to change with the approach the team is taking to get him back to full strength.
x: @raidersbeat