Sunday when the Panthers come to town, the Raiders will finally get to see their rookie guard Jackson Powers-Johnson take the field. Head coach Antonio Pierce said Powers-Johnson will play this week in the home opener when the Raiders face the Panthers.
Powers-Johnson was supposed to be the team’s starting left guard from day one. But an undisclosed injury had him out much of the offseason and all of training camp. Then an illness caused him to miss the first two games of the season.
“He had a really good week of practice last week,” Pierce said of his rookie guard. “If you watched the game, he was one of the biggest guys getting everybody pumped up on the sideline. Just that energy, that fountain of youth and obviously that aggressiveness that he has. I’m looking forward to seeing it and like all of us when he gets in the game, eyes will be right to him.”
In his absence, the Raiders haven’t exactly had solid play at the position. Cody Whitehair started the opener. They swapped him out for Andrus Peat last week before benching Peat and bringing Whitehair back in for the second half.