Just days ahead of the regular season opener against the Denver Broncos, all talk surrounding the Las Vegas Raiders is on off-field issues. Veteran pass rusher Chandler Jones went on a social media tirade against the team claiming multiple different issues he has and said he doesn’t want to play for the Raiders as long as Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler are there.
For the most part, the team has been quiet on the situation with McDaniels saying that the franchise is handling things privately and no players commenting on it. But defensive captain Maxx Crosby recently addressed the situation, and his message was in line with that of the Raiders coach.
After a recent practice, Crosby simply said that the Raiders are handling things in-house and it’s all fine, via Vic Tafur of The Athletic:
Maxx Crosby on Chandler Jones situation: “Everything’s in house. We’re good.”
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) September 6, 2023
Unfortunately, despite the efforts of Crosby and the Raiders to keep things in-house, Jones is not allowing for that to be the case. The veteran made another series of posts on Instagram, revealing that the Raiders sent a Las Vegas Crisis Response Team to his house.
Jones also shared more screenshots of text messages between himself and McDaniels that would seem to indicate his issues have been going on for some time and also said that he would stop posting on social media if the team allowed him to play on Sunday against the Broncos.
The Raiders seem to believe that this could be some sort of mental health episode for Jones and are trying to give him the proper help should that be the case. If it is then Jones’ health is obviously the most important thing and takes top priority. Either way, handling things privately would be the more desirable thing for the franchise.
As the team captain, it is Crosby’s responsibility to get the players focused on the task at hand and ready to go in Denver on Sunday. As difficult as that may be, the Raiders still have to take the field and the Broncos are going to have no sympathy for this saga.
Whether Jones has a right to feel the way he does or it’s something more serious going on personally, hopefully, the matter gets resolved. In the meantime, Crosby and the Raiders will look to block the outside noise and handle business on Sunday.
