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Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty (2) is tackled by New England Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones (25) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Greg M. Cooper)AP
FOXBOROUGH — If running back Ashton Jeanty has the sort of career that the Raiders were hoping for when they picked him sixth overall in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Patriots will be able to say they shut him down in his debut.
New England held Jeanty to 38 yards on 19 carries after rushing for 2,601 yards and 29 touchdowns last year at Boise State.
“I feel like we executed on the ground. We held them to under 100 yards rushing, which is always good for us,” Patriots defensive tackle Milton Williams said. “We knew coming in that they didn’t draft him in the first round for no reason and he was going to get the ball. We were ready for it, so we did good tonight.”
Carroll offered a more layered response after his team’s 20-13 win.
“I wish we’d have run the ball better. They did a nice job up front against us,” Carroll said. “We didn’t get much going.”
Carroll said the Patriots’ focus on stopping Jeanty opened the door for the Raiders’ passing game and praised coordinator Chip Kelly for recognizing it.
“But we stayed with it enough to give us the play (action) passes that we needed to throw the football around,” he said. “They still got under the run. They were getting fired up and hyped up about stopping it. I thought Chip called a great game to take advantage of that. Their aggressive style at the line of scrimmage allowed us to get a few plays out of them. And that’s just kind of how we play. Hopefully, we can keep that going. But we’ll need the running game a lot more formidable than that.”
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