The Las Vegas Raiders aren’t in a great position to talk trash right now. The team has lost four in a row and is sitting at 3-4 on the season.
The New York Jets are the Week 8 opponent, and they are 2-5 right now. This is a good game for the Raiders to get back on track. However, some players might be a little too confident.
Running back Ashton Jeanty is averaging 3.1 yards per carry this season. He hasn’t come close to living up to the No. 6 pick the Raiders used to draft him. He’s hoping to turn his season around against the Jets. In fact, he went so far as to throw shade at a number of unnamed Jets defensive players.
“I think we can definitely get the run game going,” Jeanty said of the Jets’ defense. “Get back on track and really get after these guys. A couple guys out there that don’t really want to tackle, but I’m not going to say names.”
It’s usually not a good idea for a struggling player on a team in the midst of a losing streak to talk trash, but the Raiders can’t be too upset that he’s remaining confident. That said, he really needs a big game in New York, or these comments are going to come back to bite him.
Fans Don’t Like Jeanty’s Trash Talk.
If the Raiders were 4-2 or 5-1 right now, fans would love the confidence and the trash talk. The problem is that the team just isn’t good right now and hasn’t earned that right. Many fans, including Raiders fans, weren’t pleased with Jeanty’s comments.
“Ashton, I love ya but do we really need to be putting out bulletin board material going on the road after 4 straight losses???” One fan wrote on X. “Better run for a hundo a 2 tuddys now or this will haunt you for the rest of the season…”
“True or not Ashton Jeanty is the last person who should talk. Just STFU…” Another fan commented. “The last thing you should want to do is motivate the Jets…”
Jeanty is going to be in for a rough time if he can’t back up his talk.
Jeanty Wants Team to Stick Together
The Raiders fell apart last season and ended up finishing the year as the worst team in the NFL. They haven’t been that bad this year. They clearly aren’t an elite team, but they can beat bad teams.
This week against the Jets will be telling. If the Raiders can’t beat them, then it’s fair to wonder if they’ll only win one or two more games this season. The big thing for Jeanty is that he wants the team to stay together.
“I think the main thing is we’ve just to stick together. You lose games, everybody starts questioning things,” Jeanty said. “Most importantly, not pointing fingers. Everybody has to work together. It’s a team sport.”
This is the first year of a rebuild under head coach Klint Kubiak, so the team can’t fall apart yet. If that happens, it’s a bad look for the head coach.
Ashton Jeanty Facing Backlash After Shading Jets Defenders