Ashton Jeanty gets a major vote of confidence from head coach Klint Kubiak as the Las Vegas Raiders look to end their five-year Week 1 and Week 2 drought.
Kubiak used Friday’s presser to make his message plain: consistency, not moments, wins seasons. The Raiders’ first-year head coach named Jeanty a team captain for Sunday’s game at the Chargers, calling him a leader “on the field, off the field.”
The Raiders are “desperate” every week…
Kubiak also brushed off the idea that any one opponent’s prior loss creates a special “desperate team” danger. He argued that mentality has to be a weekly baseline: “If you don’t play like that every Sunday, you’re in trouble… We get 17 desperate games in a row.”
Asked about the franchise’s five-year drought without back-to-back Week 1 and Week 2 wins, he leaned on the same philosophy. The staff treats the schedule as 17 separate one-game seasons rather than building narratives around streaks.
The Jeanty captaincy holds significant importance for the Raiders, extending beyond mere symbolism. The second-year back sprained his ankle late in the preseason and missed practice time. Being handed a captain’s patch for Week 2 is as strong a signal as any that he’s fully cleared and central to the game plan.
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Kubiak has said publicly he wants to push Jeanty’s snap share toward Christian McCaffrey-type usage, which puts a premium on his health after a rookie season that produced 1,321 scrimmage yards. With Kirk Cousins settled in as the Week 1 starter over rookie Fernando Mendoza, an offense built around Jeanty as the every-down back is the clearest identity marker for this rebuild, and it also shapes how the coaching staff manages his workload against a Chargers defense that will be desperate to bounce back from an 0-1 start.
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What happens next: expect Jeanty to see a heavy, close-to-max workload Sunday at SoFi Stadium. The staff wants to establish that identity early. So, a captain’s role invites exactly the kind of usage Kubiak has previewed since the offseason.
Do you think the Raiders’ five-year Week 1/Week 2 drought ends Sunday? Or does the road trip to face a desperate Chargers team snap their early momentum?
*Top Photo: Getty Images