Las Vegas Raiders guard Jackson Powers-Johnson is in the fight of his life to remain a starter in his third NFL season. The margins between him and sophomore Caleb Rogers were already razor thin on the right side of the offensive line, and now, Powers-Johnson is firmly behind the 8-Ball.
After an up-and-down showing in the first preseason game of the year for the former Oregon Duck, Powers-Johnson went down with an injury during Tuesday's padded practice in Las Vegas. He was subsequently held out of the team's joint practice with the Houston Texans on Tuesday morning.
The nature and severity of his injury are still pretty much unknown, but two dueling reports from ESPN's Jeremy Fowler and Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak paint an interesting picture for Powers-Johnson. It doesn't sound like the injury is too serious, but just serious enough for some concern.
Jackson Powers-Johnson expected to miss Raiders' second preseason game, but injury concerns are "short-term"
When news broke that Powers-Johnson wouldn't participate in the joint session in Houston on Tuesday, Fowler reported what he had heard about the severity of the injury. This is the good piece of news that Raider Nation received.
"I'm told Jackson Powers-Johnson's injury is considered short-term, but he's being held out of the joint practice today vs the Texans," Fowler wrote.
Short-term is good. Powers-Johnson made the trip down to Texas and was on the practice field observing drills, so maybe some fans thought that he had an outside chance to still play in Thursday's preseason game. Here's the bad news: Kubiak pretty much shut that idea down.
"He got banged up in practice [on Monday]. We wanted to be cautious [in joint practices]. We got to keep evaluating him moving forward," Kubiak told reporters. "I would not expect JPJ to play Thursday night, no."
"Not expecting" is a far cry from him being ruled out, but it sounds like Powers-Johnson got hurt bad enough on Monday that the Raiders don't feel like risking it in the second week of the preseason. And with Rogers knocking on the door of his starting spot, that is very bad news for Powers-Johnson.
In a way, though, hearing that his injury is only expected to sideline him in the short-term is reassuring. Powers-Johnson is fresh off a season-ending injury in 2025, so at least this doesn't appear to be as serious as that. But it's never good to be sidelined in this league.
Injuries have followed Powers-Johnson throughout his career, and this latest setback won't do anything to dispel the notion that he is unreliable because he can't stay on the field. Availability is a player's best ability, and Powers-Johnson has missed time in every season with the Raiders.
Hopefully, the young player returns to action sooner rather than later. Powers-Johnson is one of the most talented players that Las Vegas has up front, and he needs every opportunity he can get to prove to this new coaching staff that he should be in the starting lineup.
Getting back on the field healthy would go a long way in convincing them of that, though, and the latest reports about Powers-Johnson are a mixed bag.
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