It was another rough outing for the Oakland Raiders as they fell to the Minnesota Vikings 34-14 in Week 3 of the 2019 NFL season. Derek Carr had a fairly pedestrian afternoon, throwing for 242 yards, two touchdown passes and one interception.
Sitting at 1-2 on the year, the Raiders clearly have several issues to work out at every phase of the game. One of those issues is their offensive line play, which has struggled against opposing pass rushes.
While Oakland did a good job of protecting Carr in Week 1 against the Denver Broncos, they have struggled to keep pressure out of the pocket against the Kansas City Chiefs and Vikings. A big part of that is the absence of starting right guard Gabe Jackson, who has been out with a knee injury.
According to Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area, it appears that Jackson will still be out for the foreseeable future:
Jon Gruden doesn’t anticipate Gabe Jackson starting to practice this week. Maybe during the week in London leading up to the Bears game.
— Scott Bair (@BairNBCS) September 23, 2019
Jackson originally injured his knee in the offseason during a joint practice with the Los Angeles Rams. At the time, it was estimated that Jackson would be out for at least six-to-eight weeks and that timeline appears to still be accurate.
There was some optimism that the former third-round pick would be able to practice and suit up prior to Week 4, but it looks like the Raiders will continue to bring him along slowly to ensure there are no setbacks in his recovery. Until his return, it looks like Denzelle Good will continue to start with Richie Incognito opposite him on the left side.
Even when Jackson does eventually come back to the lineup, the offense still needs to find a way to generate more explosive plays. The Silver and Black have often found themselves in third-and-long situations that go nowhere and have been unable to sustain drives for very long.
Regardless, the Raiders will need to look forward to their matchup in Week 4 against the Indianapolis Colts, where they will again be without Jackson.
