ClutchPoints
Several players made their debuts for the Las Vegas Raiders in the 20-13 win over the New England Patriots last Sunday afternoon, but one that could be deemed disappointing was rookie running back Ashton Jeanty. While Jeanty would score a touchdown for the Raiders in the debut, he had a relatively invisible game as head coach Pete Carroll had predicted for Week 2.
In total, Jeanty would carry the football 19 times for 38 yards, averaging two yards per attempt, to go along with the aforementioned touchdown. Carroll would say that the reason for the pedestrian outing was because Jeanty was too eager to make his debut, and that for the next game, he will “play way better,” where he will “see things more clearly,” according to NBC Sports.
“Ashton [Jeanty] was hyped,” Carroll said. “He was jacked up, and he would tell you, I think, that he wishes he had been a little more patient on some reads and things like that. That will come. He didn’t look like that in preseason. This game, being out there, being called on to play and carry the ball 19 times, it was a little bit different for him. He’ll play way better, he’ll see things more clearly. I know he was a little frustrated by that.”
There’s no denying the talent that Jeanty has coming out of Boise State, being a Heisman finalist and drafted with the sixth overall pick in the last NFL Draft.
Another player who made their mark Sunday was the historic debut of Raiders quarterback Geno Smith, following the same path as Carroll, coming from the Seattle Seahawks. He would throw the ball for 362 yards, a franchise record for a debut, to go along with a touchdown pass and an interception as he completed 24 of his 34 pass attempts.
His outing garnered the reaction of Carroll, who called Smith’s performance a “regular game” against the Patriots.
“For him to complete over 70 percent of his passes again, I mean, he’s been doing this. Geno had a regular game today. I don’t think it was a big statement game or anything like that. I just think it’s just what he does. And we’ll do better than that,” Carroll said, via Sports Illustrated.
“We got rushed a little bit today, a couple of times, and that really kind of changed his opportunities to have even a bigger day,” Carroll continued. “But the fact that we had so many big plays — somebody said we had nine plays over 20, like tied the record or something like that. I can’t believe that now. I can’t believe with all the guys we’ve had in the years here at the Raiders, we’d have more than that. But it was still a big day for us, and he did a great job.”
Las Vegas looks for both Jeanty and Smith to bring their A-game as Week 2 has the...
