Las Vegas Raiders star Chandler Jones expressed his frustration with the team in a bizarre social media rant Tuesday, and the defensive end is now taking some time away.
Jones shared a series of messages on his Instagram story indicating he is unhappy with the Raiders. He said he does not want to play for the team if Josh McDaniels is head coach and Dave Ziegler is general manager. The 33-year-old also claimed the Raiders have locked him out of the team facility and are trying to “provoke” him. You can see the screenshots here.
McDaniels told reporters on Wednesday that Jones is dealing with a “personal situation.” The coach would not say if he expects Jones to play in the Raiders’ season opener against the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
McDaniels said Chandler Jones is not here today and wouldn't say if he is playing in the opener Sunday. "It's a personal situation and a private matter. We have dealt with it and I am not going to talk about it." #Raiders
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) September 6, 2023
“It’s a personal situation and a private matter. We have dealt with it and I am not going to talk about it,” McDaniels said.
McDaniels added that the Raiders are taking things “one day at a time” with Jones and will not be commenting further.
Jones signed a 3-year, $51 million contract with the Raiders last offseason. The two sides restructured the deal back in April to create salary cap space, so it would stand to reason that things were fine between them at the time.
Jones was drafted in the first round by the New England Patriots back in 2012. He had a productive four years with the team before being traded to the Arizona Cardinals prior to the 2016 season. The move came not long after reports of some troubling off-field behavior.
In his first season with Las Vegas last year, Jones had 38 total tackles, 4.5 sacks and 3 fumble recoveries. He played in 15 games.
