When the Las Vegas Raiders' defense took the field in the first quarter of the Week 4 win over the Cleveland Browns, cornerback Jack Jones was noticeably absent from the lineup.
And, as the first quarter went on and the Raiders' defense took the field for another drive, Jones wasn't out there again, which led many to believe that he had been benched.
Finally, as the Raiders' defense took the field for its first series of the next quarter, Jones was out there in his normal spot, ending his absence from Sunday's contest.
So, it would appear that Jones was benched for the first quarter, and if so, that likely stemmed from his giving lackluster effort on at least two plays during the team's embarrassing Week 3 loss to the Carolina Panthers.
It is clearly 18 Jack Jones https://t.co/L0D2hg40vb pic.twitter.com/QmycmXGtpL
— Jacob Nierob (@JNierob) September 23, 2024
Following that loss, head coach Antonio Pierce called his players out for not giving acceptable effort, but didn't mention any by name. He also made it clear the team would make it's own "business decisions" as a result of what he saw, and Jones' absence was likely an example of one of those "business decisions."
When asked about Jones' quarter-long absence after Sunday's win, Pierce didn't go into detail, only saying it was a decision that will stay between he and his player.
"That was my decision between me and Jack," Pierce said, per Justin Churchill of AtoZ Sports.
Jones finished his three quarters of play with four tackles, and the team as a whole responded in a big way to their head coach by grabbing a 20-16 win that saw Las Vegas recover from an early 10-0 deficit.
We'll see if the Raiders can continue building momentum in a Week 5 road matchup against the Denver Broncos.
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