The 2-6 Las Vegas Raiders will travel to Ohio to face the 3-5 Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium on Sunday afternoon for their ninth regular season game. The Raiders hope to end their four-game skid with a victory against the Bengals and feel satisfied heading into their BYE next week. Week 9 will be difficult for the team since their starting offensive lineman will not play.
The Las Vegas Raiders center is inactive
The Las Vegas Raiders have already ruled out Andre James for Sunday. James suffered an ankle injury late in their Week 8 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and did not return for the rest of the game. He did not participate in this week’s practice and will miss his first game of the 2024 season.
James’ injury paves the way for their rookie to start.
The Las Vegas Raiders will count on their rookie
Jackson Powers-Johnson will make his first career start at center as a member of the Raiders. Powers-Johnson would have an incredible 2023 campaign with the Oregon Ducks, where he would win the Rimington Trophy, which recognizes the best center in college football. He wound up as the 44th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.
JPJ battled a nagging injury since OTAs and started training camp on the active/PUP list. Powers-Johnson missed most (if not all) of training camp, but the Raiders activated him off the PUP list in the middle of August. Despite being activated, he did not play in their first two games.
Also Read: REPORT: The Las Vegas Raiders Activate their Day 2 Draft Choice Off the PUP List
Since then, JPJ has participated in their last six games, including five starts on the offensive line. Powers-Johnson filled in at right guard for Week 3, started Weeks 4-8 at left guard and filled in at center for the rest of Week 8. He impressed their head coach by filling in at center last week despite not having any practice reps there since OTAs.
Antonio Pierce praised Jackson Powers-Johnson for filling in at center last week
“He moved from guard to center,” Pierce said of Powers-Johnson. “Had no reps probably since OTA’s maybe. I don’t think he got any reps in training camp. No, he didn’t. So, I thought that was a really good job by him. We had no snap issues. Just to go in there and make the MIKE calls and communication. And we know Jackson’s a smart individual, obviously, and I thought the coaches did a good job getting him prepared in that situation, which was obviously during the middle of the game.”
Jackson Powers-Johnson is ready to go
“Getting those reps and getting that cohesion with the offense and Gardner, I think is huge,” said Raiders offensive lineman Jackson Powers-Johnson. “I think you got to have a lot more communication just because center has you know, more responsibility. Has to read the defense and kind of has to command the line. Just continuing to learn and continue to build and you know as you said build cohesion with the offense. I will be ready to go if needed.
Will JPJ capitalize on the opportunity and thrive at center in the NFL as he did in college?
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