Although the Oakland Raiders came up short against the Green Bay Packers in Week 7, they can take solace in the fact that quarterback Derek Carr was kept relatively unscathed thanks in part to the return of right guard Gabe Jackson.
Jackson was finally able to make his 2019 NFL season debut after nursing a knee injury he suffered during training camp. It is safe to say that his presence was immediately felt after the offensive line did not allow a single sack the entire game versus a revamped Packers defense.
Carr was able to complete 22-of-28 passes for 293 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception while working from a relatively clean pocket. Despite the 42-24 loss, it is clear having Jackson back has helped to pay huge dividends for his protection upfront.
Carr made sure to offer up some praise for the performance from his offensive line after the game, via Kyle Martin of the team’s official website:
“Man, it was awesome,” Carr said when asked what it was like getting Jackson back from injury. “Shoutout to our offensive line. When Trent [Brown] went down, David Sharpe — who’s had some better days, some harder days early on in his career — has kept fighting and tried to be a better player, and came out today and played great. So, I got to give credit to all of those guys. To have them all back, to play the way that they did, I think they did an outstanding job. I think everyone would agree with that, but those guys are doing a great job. Coach [Tom] Cable and those guys are doing a great job preparing those guys, all of them, just in case because we didn’t know if Trent was going to play. He practiced a little bit this week so we didn’t know. David and Brandon [Parker] were rolling in there, so we didn’t know what was going on.
“But for them to come out, have Gabe [Jackson] back, and have that continuity… There was a few plays that happened just because of playing so much together, where we broke the huddle, he looked at me, and we were able to check to a play and get a scoring touchdown before anyone knew what was going on. Just getting that continuity again, we can see things that we’ve seen before, and it’s nice.”
Despite his strong outing, Jackson is looking forward to finding his footing over the next few games:
“I’ve got a lot more room to improve,” Jackson said. “Just feeling better and getting back in a rhythm. It’ll take time, but I’m just glad to be out there.”
Jackson’s comments are certainly understandable given how much time has missed with the injury. Fortunately, his performance against Green Bay provides good reason for Oakland to be optimistic about the state of this offensive line.
With right tackle Trent Brown still dealing with a calf injury, Jackson will now be tasked with serving as a stabilizing factor on the right side until this group is restored to full strength for the first time this season.
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