Raiders’ Josh McDaniels Issues First Comments On Chandler Jones Situation

It remains to be seen when Chandler Jones will rejoin the Raiders.

Jones was not with Las Vegas on Wednesday, one day after the veteran pass-rusher went scorched earth on the franchise via Instagram. Within the social media spree, Jones claimed the Raiders kept him away from the team facility and someone from the organization contacted the mother of his child, who he claims he hasn’t been in a relationship with in five years. Jones, who eventually deleted all the posts, also said he didn’t want to play for Las Vegas as long as head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler served in their current roles.

McDaniels’ media availability Wednesday offered the head coach his first chance to address the Jones saga.

“I’m not gonna talk about the — that’s kind of a personal situation,” McDaniels told reporters, per a team-provided video. “We’ve never really gone into those kind of things, so I’m going to steer away from that. It’s a private matter and if there’s something to report on it, we’ll do that. There’s nothing to talk about. Right now, we’re going day to day. He’s not going to be here today (Wednesday) so we’ll kind of take it one day at a time.”

McDaniels also was asked if he believes the Jones situation could have an effect on the Raiders’ locker room.

“The team’s getting ready to play a game,” McDaniels said. “We deal with different things throughout the course of the year, whether it’s injuries or other adversities. I think the guys are focused on trying to control the things they can control and get ready to play the best game we can play on Sunday.”

It feels as though there’s a real chance Jones won’t be active for Las Vegas in its season opener. The Silver and Black will spend Week 1 in Denver where they will face the division rival Broncos.