HENDERSON, Nev. – Defensive end Chandler Jones was not at the Las Vegas facility on Wednesday, a day after he posted, then deleted social media posts critical of Raiders management, and his status for Sunday's season opener at Denver is in question.
Raiders coach Josh McDaniels characterized the situation as “day to day.”
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“We've got to deal with different things during the course of the year whether it's injuries or other adversity,” McDaniels said. “I think the guys are focused on trying to control the things that they can control and get ready to play the best game we can play."
Tyree Wilson, selected seventh overall in this year's draft, is listed on the depth chart as the backup should Jones not play against the Broncos.
“I prepare every day like everybody else,” Wilson said. “It's the next-man-up mentality. No matter what, I put the best out there for my brothers.”
Wilson missed most of training camp because of a foot injury from his last season at Texas Tech.
“He’s worked through this whole spring and summer on schedule with what we’ve been asking him to do,” McDaniels said. "This week will be another week we’ll push forward. I think he’s done a tremendous job of trying to follow the plan. He'll be ready to go. Nobody’s going to play 70 plays on Sunday.
“We’ve prepared hard, we’ve conditioned hard, but none of us have played a game for 60 minutes.”
On Tuesday, Jones indicated in since-deleted Instagram posts that he no longer wanted to play for McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler. Jones said he preferred that defensive coordinator Patrick Graham take over as the coach.
“It’s a shame that I am a top athlete with 112 sacks in the NFL and I have to go to a local gym to work out during the season for no apparent reason this is wild to me Josh and you know it you need to do what’s right,” Jones posted.
It was unclear what timeframe Jones was referring to. He missed a stretch of recent practices because of an unspecified injury, but then returned last week.
Raiders players didn't directly address Jones' situation.
“We're focused on this game, and that's all that matters right now,” defensive end Maxx Crosby said.
Wide receiver Davante Adams offered a similar response.
“Everybody's got to focus on what we've got to focus on,” Adams said. “The only thing that's important this week is this game, so we've got to lock in on that.”
Jones posted on X (formerly Twitter) Wednesday afternoon for the first time since taking down the Instagram posts, saying, “God is good, all the time.”
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