On Aug. 17, Ryan McFadden of ESPN reported that Las Vegas Raiders right guard Jackson Powers-Johnson left practice early with a trainer.
Moreover, Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak said on Aug. 18 that he doesn’t expect Powers-Johnson to play in the second preseason game against the Houston Texans on Aug. 20, per McFadden.
After leaving with an injury on Aug. 17, the guard didn’t participate in the joint practice between the Raiders and Texans on Aug. 18. The injury bug continues to bite Powers-Johnson since the Silver and Black drafted him in the second round in 2024.
As a result, former Raiders offensive lineman Lincoln Kennedy issued a blunt message in response to the Powers-Johnson injury.
“I love his tenacity, I love his aggression, I love his play,” Kennedy said on the Aug. 19 edition of “The Raiders Squad Show.” “But you have to be available. And there’s a reason why he fell, possibly from a first-round draft choice to where he was. There were a lot of teams that suspected this was going to happen. And I hate this for JPJ, not for the Raiders. I hate it for JPJ because I really want to see this young man succeed.
“I don’t know how you do it, though. I don’t know how you do it with a game that involves contact, a game that involves grown-a– men pushing themselves against one another. If you can’t be available, I don’t know how you make it.”
JPJ’s Future With the Raiders Could Be Uncertain
Moreover, Kennedy took it a step further and questioned whether Powers-Johnson has a future with the Raiders if these injuries continue as the guard heads into Year 3 in the league.
“That’s why I have the reference: You can’t make the club in the tub,” Kennedy added. “So, with all due respect, I don’t want to give up on a young man. But I don’t know if I have a place for him.”
JPJ Could Fall to Backup Role After Latest Injury
In that same segment, Q Myers was also candid about the situation, and while Powers-Johnson brings something to the offensive line that the Raiders lack, at the end of the day it doesn’t matter if injuries continue to take him out of the starting lineup.
“I think he’s one of the most talented dudes that are out there [and] I think he’s got that nasty streak that I would love to see that Raiders offensive line, that identity,” Myers said. “I would love to see them have that. But again, that nasty doesn’t matter if you’re on the sideline. It just doesn’t matter. When you’ve played 23 out of 34 games so far in your career, that just kind of tells you where you’re at.
“Now, this could be something very minor. He could be back on Thursday. He might end up going all season long, but I’m not going to sit there and bank money on it just because of the proven history. So we’ll see. But every day he’s not out there, Caleb Rogers is getting all of the reps. All that’s going to do is make that young man who’s hungry get that much more familiar with this system and scheme.”
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