Ashton Jeanty Candidly Speaks His Mind on the Raiders' Issues

Q: How do you feel like everything has been progressing? Obviously, you're doing a lot of heavy lifting trying to get some yardage, but you're out there getting reps and experience. Ashton 

Jeanty: “Yeah, I think it's progressing well. We're right where we need to be. I mean, we're going to continue to get better. We've gotten better. And it starts with me, like I got to continue to get better on my reads and everything and really get things going.”

Q: There's a statistic out there that you've dealt with the most contact to get your yards. Have you seen these stats, and how do you think you've performed despite that? 

Jeanty: “I mean, I've heard people saying it, but I'm not really paying attention to it. I think regardless, I've been doing a good job, but there's a lot of room for improvement and that will continue to happen. 

Q: How do you start that progression, especially with the mental space? We were talking with Geno Smith about how sometimes it takes just having that mental space to be able to progress. How do you see that working with you? 

Jeanty: “It's a mindset to me. It's like you can either look at the negative all the time and what you did wrong and just take it as you know you're not good enough and you can't make these plays. Or you can look at it as a learning lesson of like, hey, I made these mistakes, but I can learn from these and be better. That rule of like don't make the same mistake twice. So, just taking that responsibility and initiative to get better and improve.” 

Q: How much has it helped you to have a veteran like Geno Smith to be able to speak with and work through some of these things with? 

Jeanty: “It helps a lot. I mean, Geno [Smith], he's a great leader. He's been playing at a high level and he's bringing us all along, whether it's mentally or through the X’s and O’s, so it's great to have somebody like that.”