Itachi and Kisame stated that about the kyuubi. Note the wording in the panel below.
"Even if you might be able to take
HIM on, I'm not so sure about me."
"It was great finally finding
HIM at the ramen shop, but
HIS babysitter was one of the three great shinobi of konoha legend."
Jiraiya is babysitting Jiraiya? No. Jiraiya is babysitting the kyuubi jin.
All that was said about Jiraiya from them was that he was a Legendary Sannin and their titles paled in comparison(Kisame saying that), and Itachi claiming "even the strongest heroes have their weaknesses".
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Kisame even states after running in to Jiraiya, Itachi didn't need to retreat:
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So no, the only person who was admitting any kind of inferiority to Jiraiya was Kisame, which is factual because Jiraiya does indeed > Kisame. Itachi claimed they were more along the lines of equals, if not slightly above Jiraiya. Which is also true.