The Las Vegas Raiders made a controversial decision during their latest game. Vegas decided to bench superstar Ashton Jeanty in favor of Mike Washington in their Week 8 win against New York. But that does not mean that the Raiders are giving up on Jeanty as their lead back.
Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak said that he absolutely believes that Jeanty can still be a bell cow running back in the NFL.
“Ashton's a young player and has a really bright future ahead,” Kubiak said on Wednesday, per ESPN's Ryan McFadden. “…Glad we have him and all these young players on our roster that are continuing to grow. And it's our job as coaches to develop them.”
Jeanty received a soft benching against the Jets. He only received two carries for nine yards and also added three receptions for 64 receiving yards. Washington took over the backfield, logging 25 carries for 83 rushing yards.
One reason could be Jeanty's trash talk against the Jets leading up to that contest. Jeanty suggested that some Jets defenders do not look like they want to tackle.
Kubiak barely addressed the reasons why he benched Jeanty after the game. However, he did declare that Jeanty's comments on the Jets did not have anything to do with the decision.
“Yeah, you know guys, that's my call, and Ashton's still gonna be a big part of our team,” Kubiak said after Sunday's game. “Had a huge catch, he's gonna be a huge part of our run game going forward, and, you know, we just wanna give Mike a few more opportunities a day, and, you know, I think both guys are going to be a huge part of our rushing and passing success moving forward.”
It will be interesting to see if Jeanty gets a bigger workload in team's next matchup this weekend.
Raiders at 49ers kicks off at 4:25 p.m. ET on Nov 8 from Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara.