The Las Vegas Raiders came back down to earth after a solid season-opening victory over the New England Patriots, as they suffered an ugly 20-9 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 2. Now, they will look to get back on track in Week 3 with a matchup against the Washington Commanders, and they recently received some good news on injured offensive lineman Jackson Powers-Johnson.
After earning the Raiders‘ starting right guard job, Powers-Johnson suffered a concussion in Week 1 that forced him to miss the team’s Week 2 action. Powers-Johnson has been working on getting himself out of the concussion protocol, and the team’s latest injury update on him indicates that he is on track to return to action in Week 3.
Jackson Powers-Johnson Logs Full Practice for Raiders
Powers-Johnson broke into the league last season after being selected by the Raiders in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft. It didn’t take long for Powers-Johnson to earn a starting job, as he ended up becoming the team’s top left guard by Week 4, and he held down the fort there for the remainder of the season.
Heading into the 2025 campaign, Las Vegas revealed that they were going to have Powers-Johnson compete for the starting center job with Jordan Meredith. It seemed like he had the inside track at winning that gig, but Meredith ended up being the team’s starting center, and with Dylan Parham moving back to his native left guard position, that resulted in Powers-Johnson being flipped to right guard.
With all the position changes, the Raiders‘ o-line has experienced some early growing pains, and it certainly didn’t help that they were missing Powers-Johnson last week. However, it seems like he’s trending in the right direction when it comes to his injury status, as the former Oregon Ducks star logged a full practice on Thursday, which means he has cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol.
Jackson Powers-Johnson a full participant in Raiders practice = cleared concussion protocol,” Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal shared in a post on X.
Raiders Hoping Jackson Powers-Johnson Can Suit Up in Week 3
GettyJackson Powers-Johnson has taken a big step towards returning to the field for the Raiders in Week 3
The Raiders are hoping that Powers-Johnson can take a step forward in his sophomore season now that he’s at right guard. While he wasn’t necessarily bad last year, his play did leave a little bit to be desired, but in order for him to improve, he actually needs to be on the field, which is a big reason why getting him back is so important for Las Vegas.
Initially, it may seem like the Raiders don’t have a good shot at winning in Week 3 against the Commanders, but all signs are pointing to star quarterback Jayden Daniels being unable to play in this one, which would thrust old friend Marcus Mariota into a spot start. Las Vegas will be focused on its own injuries, but if Daniels can’t play, that could open the door for them to steal a win from Washington on Sunday.
Raiders Get Injury Update on Jackson Powers-Johnson Before Week 3