Guard Jackson healthy, leading way for ground game
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, 335-pound 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, 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 a 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 injur y. When Gruden arrived, Kelechi Osemele, the highly-paid Pro Bowl guard on the left side, was traded to the Jets in part because there were instances where the Raiders thought he might play but didn’t. It’s not fair, but it happens all the time throughout the league.
Of all the moves the Raiders made in the offseason, one of the best decisions they made was keeping Jackson around.
Jackson and center Rodney Hudson got the Raiders off on the right foot in a 3126 win over the Chargers by pulling to the right and leading Devontae Booker to a 23-yard scoring run in which he was untouched. It was the kind of play he could have never made last year, when his quickness and agility were compromised.
“It’s fun and it’s not fun, because you’re playing the battle of you being fat and they being faster than you,” Jackson said. “It was fun to get out there and show a little speed on the sideline and ultimately get a touchdown.”
In a season of shuffling by offensive line coach Tom Cable, no one has dealt with more change than Jackson, who has had Brown, Good, Sam Young and Brandon Parker lining up alongside him at various times.
Carr has been to the Pro Bowl, and has seen linemen such as Hudson, Trent Brown, Osemele and Donald Penn similarly honored since 2016.
“Gabe is the one guy I look at where it’s like, ‘How does he not get in?’ “Carr said.
Through midseason in 2020, the Raiders are revolving around Carr, who is pulling the strings of a balanced offense leading the way to a 5-3 record. But they’re powered by Jackson, along with Hudson and Good.
“That’s the strength of this offense, the quarterback and the interior linemen,” Gruden said. “They make the guys next to them play better. They really set the standard here.”
RAIDERS DON’T GET MCKINLEY >> The Raiders were victims of their own success in failing to reel in Takk McKinley to possibly add some juice to their pass rush. McKinley now belongs to the Cincinnati Bengals. The Raiders put in a waiver claim on McKinley, the a former first-round pick by the Atlanta Falcons who was let go Tuesday.
However, three other teams also claimed McKinley, and since the Raiders had the best record of the four teams, they were out of luck. Players on waivers are awarded to the claiming team with the worst record. At 5- 3, the Raiders were slotted at No. 23. According to the NFL Network, other teams that claimed besides the Bengals ( No. 8, 2- 5-1), the 49ers ( No. 15, 5- 4) and the Browns ( No.. 17, 5-3).
GRUDEN ON JEUDY, FANGIO ON RUGGS >> The Raiders took Henry Ruggs III of Alabama over Jerry Jeudy of Alabama in the first round of the draft, and Sunday will be the first of many times the two wide receivers meet as AFC West opponents. Ruggs went at No. 12, Jeudy at No. 15.
Here’s Gruden’s take on Jeudy, who has 30 catches for 484 yards and two touchdowns:
“He’s smooth. He knows how to run routes. You could probably show him the route you want done one time, and he could do it. He really knows how creatively express himself on the football field.”
Here’s Broncos’ coach Vic Fangio on Ruggs, who has 10 receptions for 220 yards and a touchdown:
“We liked Ruggs a lot during the draft. The first thing you think of when you watch him as speed. He’s very, very fast. And I think he’s done a good job throughout the season in his route-running ability, catching ability. They’ve got a really good player there who’s going to be good for a long time.”
THE INFIRMARY >> Alec Ingold, who went to the hospital for X-rays on his ribs after being injured on the sixth play against the Chargers, was at practice and limited.
Gruden believes Ingold will be a favorite of Raiders fans and compared him to legends Marv Hubbard and Mark Van Eeghen.
“He’s like the throwback guys. He will not come off the field,” Gruden said. “He insists on playing. I’d be shocked if he’s not ready to play great on Sunday.”
• Those who did not practice included Maurice Hurst (ankle), Kolton Miller (ankle) and Hudson (day off). Incognito (Achilles) remains on injured reserve.
• Cornerback Damon Arnette practiced but will need to show progress today if he hopes to face Denver.
“He’s been out a long time. No guarantee he’ll start or play or be a factor in the game yet,” Gruden said. “He has to determine that himself and show us tomorrow and Friday.”