Raiders’ Jackson a destructive force again

It’s still one of the most spellbinding and terrifying moments I’ve ever spent during a Raiders training camp practice.

It was three years ago and Gabe Jackson was coming right at me during an 11-on-11 session as I stood along the sideline. An upright refrigerator on wheels, only with nimbleness afoot, about to terminate my existence on this earth.

I moved, Jackson missed me — he may not have been as close as it seemed — and for a split second I knew what it felt like to be a defensive back and have this 6-foot-3, 335pound weapon of mass destruction coming at me at a clip that seemed impossible for someone that size.

It is that Gabe Jackson, the one the Raiders signed to a five-year, contract extension worth nearly $56 million in 2017, who has returned to his old self in 2020. The Raiders open the second half of the season Sunday at Allegiant Stadium against the Denver Broncos.

“This man, if he’s not the best right guard in football, then show me who is,” Raiders coach Jon Gruden said.

For the last two years, Jackson has had the usual assortment of injuries but some bad ones as well — a dislocated elbow in 2018, and an MCL strain in training camp last year that Gruden now says was a dislocated kneecap. It cost Jackson five games and he wasn’t the same player when he returned.

Jackson, an agreeable if not particularly enthusiastic interview subject, wasn’t interested in delving deeply into his level of play but did concede, “just being healthy feels good.”

Quarterback Derek Carr, from the same draft class in 2014 that brought Jackson from Mississippi State in 2014, sits next to him on every charter flight.

“The last couple of years, he’s played hobbled,” Carr said. “He’s played with one arm, he’s played with one leg. He’s one of the toughest, grittiest players I’ve ever been around. This year he’s healthy. He’s flying around, smacking dudes like we all knew he could. It’s really fun to watch.”

There was speculation during the offseason that perhaps Jackson wouldn’t make it to 2020. He’d been hurt each of the first two years of his contract extension and could have been released with no penalty against the salary cap. Richie Incognito emerged as the left guard and Denzelle Good, who had proved he was formidable, not to mention cheaper, was available on the right. The NFL can be brutal and unforgiving and Jackson’s $9.3 million salary and $9.6 million cap number were an easy target.

To this day I’m not sure how seriously the Raiders considered letting him go. One thing about Gruden though, is his level of respect for those who play through injury.

Of all the moves the Raiders made in the offseason, one of the best decisions they made was keeping Jackson.