Between Las Vegas Raiders fans and fantasy football players, there's no shortage of Ashton Jeanty followers collectively holding their breath regarding the running back's return timeline. After going down during training camp on August 23, there were initial concerns about the severity of Jeanty's injury, but it was later diagnosed as an ankle sprain, with his return timeline largely considered TBD.
Considering Jeanty's injury occurred weeks before the start of the 2026 NFL season, and with fantasy football drafts just ramping up, it's created a few tough decisions for fantasy owners. Thankfully, it appears that Jeanty is quickly trending in the right direction, at least considering what we've heard from head coach Klint Kubiak and general manager
John Spytek.
Latest Ashton Jeanty injury updates
Spytek spoke with the media early this week and gave a positive overall update on Jeanty, but refused to go so far as to specifically cite when the running back could be ready for in-game action. However, he did say that he believes Jeanty could be back "maybe quicker than some people would expect."
“I think he's in a good spot. We see him every day," Spytek said. "He's working really hard. He's on the mend, as Klint said. I think that's one of the things we all like and respect about Ashton is just the maturity he has and the spirit that he has, that it's hard to knock him down. And I think he attacks everything with a great mindset. And I don't think that this will be any different for him. I expect him to be back as quick as he can, maybe quicker than some people would expect. When that is, we'll see. But I think he's in a good spot, and I think he'll be ready to go when we get him back out there.”
Spytek's comments come after former NFL head doctor David J. Chao (ProFootballDoc) posted on X discussing Jeanty's injury and the fact that he had no boot, crutches or limp late last week. He predicted that Jeanty could be back on the field for Week 1.
No boot. No crutches. No visible limp on Thursday.
— David J. Chao - ProFootballDoc (@ProFootballDoc) August 31, 2026
I think Ashton Jeanty plays Week 1. pic.twitter.com/TfmMtcig8c
Obviously, this is only one opinion, but it's undeniably a good sign that Jeanty is moving well and was even back doing work on the side during team practice this week. He hasn't returned to practice fully yet, but time will tell whether he's able to give it a go in Week 1. Regardless, a somewhat quick return doesn't seem off the table at all.
All things considered, the fantasy football implications of this should help inform the decision to draft Jeanty early. There hasn't been anything that's signaled a lengthy absence for Jeanty thus far, so keeping him as a first-round pick, or early second-rounder, depending on the league, makes sense at this point.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Latest Ashton Jeanty injury updates have significant fantasy football impact
