The Las Vegas Raiders will be without a starting offensive lineman in their pivotal battle of 3-0 teams when they host the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday as coach Klint Kubiak ruled out right guard Jackson Powers-Johnson on Friday.
Powers-Johnson missed the entire week of practice after he suffered a groin injury that cost his the five final plays at New Orleans on Sunday. Earlier in the week, Kubiak said the team was hopeful Powers-Johnson can practice at some point this week to give him a chance to play against
Kansas City.
2025 third-round pick Caleb Rogers spelled Powers-Johnson on Sunday and is in line to start Sunday. He started six games as a rookie last season. Powers-Johnson beat out Rogers, a Texas Tech product, in training camp this year. Kubiak has said the team feels that both players are starting-caliber types.
This will be Powers-Johnson 12th missed game due to injury out of a possible 38 NFL games. The 2024 second-round pick out of Oregon missed the final eight games of last season with an ankle injury.
Meanwhile, No. 3 quarterback Aidan O’Connell is still away from the team. He has been gone for 15 days dealing with the death of his father. Kubiak said this week that the team would hopeful O’Connell would return for this game.
Every other player on the 53-man roster is healthy enough to play Sunday, so most of the inactive players will be healthy scratches.
Meanwhile, Kubiak said wide receiver Dont’e Thornton is working hard to return from the injured reserve. The team can activate him after Sunday’s game. Kubiak did say she is not sure of Thornton’s timeline.
