Raiders coach Josh McDaniels reveals Chandler Jones is absent, dealing with a 'private matter'

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels said Wednesday that veteran edge rusher Chandler Jones is currently away from the team and is unsure if he’ll be available to play in Week 1 against the Denver Broncos this Sunday.

McDaniels’ comments come one day after Jones ripped the franchise on social media after allegedly being denied access into the team’s facility to work out over the weekend. McDaniels declined to say why Jones went on the tirade, calling it a “private matter.”

“Right now, we’re going day to day… So we’ll kind of take it one day at a time,” McDaniels said, via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN. “It’s a private matter and, you know, if there’s something to report on it, then we’ll do that. But as of right now, there’s nothing.

“I’m not going to get into this. It’s a personal situation. It’s a private matter. If you want to talk about the game on Sunday, I’ll be excited to talk about the game.”

McDaniels added the situation is being dealt with internally.

“So it is what it is,” McDaniels said. “Like I said, we’re dealing with it internally. We’ve dealt with it but we’re not going to get into this.”

Jones, 33, is entering the second year of a three-year, $51 million deal he signed with the Raiders in March 2022. In his first season in Las Vegas, Jones compiled 4.5 sacks, 38 tackles (21 solo), 15 quarterback hits and one forced fumble. Three of his sacks came in Week 13 against the Los Angeles Chargers. An elbow injury in Week 16 against the Pittsburgh Steelers ended his season.

Chandler Jones rips Raiders’ brass in Instagram posts

In the since-deleted Instagram story posts, Jones publicly called out McDaniels, general manager Dave Ziegler and defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. Jones unfollowed the Raiders and fellow edge rusher/teammate Maxx Crosby on Instagram, per Mitchell Renz of Raiders Report.

“F— IT. I DON’T WANNA PLAY FOR THE RAIDERS IF THAT’S MY HC, OR GM…I WANT PATRICK GRAHAM IVY LEAGUE N—A,” Jones wrote.

Jones later shared an apparent text exchange with McDaniels.

“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 wrote.

Jones, originally a first-round pick of the New England Patriots in the 2012 NFL Draft (21st overall) out of Syracuse, sits 26th on the all-time sack leaders list with 112.0. Among active players, only the Buffalo Bills’ Von Miller (123.5) and the New Orleans Saints’ Cameron Jordan (115.5) have recorded more.