The Las Vegas Raiders would surely love to put these Chandler Jones issues behind them and focus on their season-opening contest against the Denver Broncos, but that just hasn’t been possible.
Of course, Jones took to Instagram, posting stories in which he shared text messages between himself and head coach Josh McDaniels, claiming that the team had banned him from the training facilities and had reached out to the mother of his child. It would all end with Jones claiming he didn’t want to play for the Raiders as long as McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler were here.
Those posts were deleted, and McDaniels has said that the team is handling this privately, but Jones still isn’t. The Raiders’ pass rusher again went on Instagram in now-deleted posts to share that the Raiders sent a Las Vegas Crisis Response Team to his house, among other revelations, via Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk:
In posts to his Instagram account that have since been deleted, Jones showed the badge of a member of Las Vegas’ Crisis Response Team that he said the Raiders sent to his home. He said Dr. Heather Thanepohn, who is the clinical program manager of the CRT, told him he needed to come with them because he was “in danger.”
Jones also shared screenshots he said are texts from August with McDaniels that suggest the issues between Jones and the team have been going on for some time. Jones said he won’t post anything else if the Raiders let him play in Sunday’s game against the Broncos and asked why no one has asked the team why they have sent him away from the team.
Unfortunately, this is a saga that continues to play out in the public eye when the Raiders, understandably, would like to handle it behind closed doors. What is unclear is whether Jones is really going through some mental health struggles, which the Raiders’ response would seem to indicate is what they believe is the case, or whether Jones simply has some legitimate gripes with the franchise.
If it is the former, the most important thing is getting Jones whatever help he needs, as his health is the top priority. But whatever the case may be, handling things in a private manner and not for the world to see on social media would be best for all parties going forward, as this is not something the public needs to be privy to at every step.
