HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Jackson Powers-Johnson has long been one of the more gregarious Raiders players since Las Vegas drafted him in the second round in 2024, his easygoing personality regularly on display in front of traditional and social media.
Now he's off social media and in meeting with the mainstream form on Thursday, a much more businesslike Powers-Johnson stood at the podium.
These indeed are serious times for Powers-Johnson, who is in the fight of his career at right guard with Caleb Rogers, who was drafted in the third round last year out of Texas Tech. Powers-Johnson had started since the opening of training camp, until the past two days when he shared first-team repetitions with Rogers.
“It’s been the plan all along to get those guys competing and get guys mixed in there to see who our best five are," first-year coach Klint Kubiak said Friday.
The player known as JPJ became a Raider with the typical high expectations of such a high draft pick, and he seemed to embrace the attention that came with it.
But even though the Raiders started him as a rookie, Powers-Johnson has coped with inconsistent play and injuries that have cut into his in-season playing time and practice reps and cast doubts about his future in Las Vegas.
So now Powers-Johnson has something to prove this camp.
“That’s what you guys want to say," Powers-Johnson said at his post-practice media availability. "I’m just working. I’m trying to get better every day. We are trying to get better every day. It’s not about what I do or what I put out there. It’s about what we do. It’s not one person. It’s a whole team.
"We’re not looking five or six months in the future. I’m not pocket watching. I’m not going to look all over that because that’s anxiety, and that’s something I don’t need and that’s something we don’t need as a team as well.”
He also probably didn't need the constant change that has come the Raiders' way since Powers-Johnson entered the NFL out of Oregon.
Powers-Johnson is on his third head coach in three seasons and fifth offensive coordinator. Las Vegas replaced its coordinator in-season each of the past two years.
He also has been shuffled along the interior line positions.
“I’ve seen a guy that’s very receptive," offensive line coach Rick Dennison said. "He wants to learn. Yes sir, no sir. Tell him to do something, he does it the best he can, and he corrects mistakes. He’s been a great teammate.”
Maybe this turns out to be a breakout season for Powers-Johnson, but his position is the only one on the offensive line in which a second player has received first-team reps this camp.
That shows his grip on the position is anything but secure, so it would make sense if he wants to tune out distractions away from the team facility.
Powers-Johnson said he stepped away from social media leading up to his July wedding because he wanted all his attention on his bride. He stayed off it to devote full focus to securing his spot with the Raiders.
“I’m happy,” Powers-Johnson said. “Feel good. I want to go play football. I don’t feel anxiety. I feel like I can just lean on my guys and my wife.”
Wide receiver Jalen Nailor and defensive ends Kwity Paye and Keyron Crawford didn't practice. Wide receiver Dont'e Thornton Jr. left with an injury.
"We had a few guys nicked up and we’re trying to be cautious with them,” Kubiak said.
Rookie cornerback Jermod McCoy returned to practice after missing Thursday, a planned day off as Raiders coaches continue to be careful with him. McCoy was considered a first-round talent but was drafted in the fourth over concerns about a torn ACL that cost him last season at Tennessee.
Tight end Michael Mayer is practicing even with two black eyes and cuts on his nose from Monday's practice.
“Somebody in public the other day said something about it, and I was like, ‘You should have seen the other guy,'” Mayer said, jokingly.
Former NBA veteran center DeMarcus Cousins attended practice wearing a black Raiders shirt with the No. 15 and his last name on the back.
The shirt could be a tribute to the top two Raiders quarterbacks — starter Kirk Cousins and backup Fernando Mendoza, who wears No. 15.
But 15 also was a number DeMarcus Cousins wore in the NBA.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Las Vegas Raiders guard Jackson Powers-Johnson (58) participates in a drill during practice at the team's NFL football training camp, Thursday, July 30, 2026, in Henderson, Nev. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Conservative Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn in as Colombia’s president Friday, not in the capital as is the tradition, but in the volatile southwestern city of Cali in a move meant to signal his hard-line approach to illegal armed groups operating in the region.
De la Espriella, 48, succeeds Gustavo Petro after winning a close runoff election on June 21 against the outgoing president’s ally, Sen. Iván Cepeda.
De la Espriella, who has never held public office before, ran as an outsider, financing his campaign with the fortune he amassed as a lawyer and businessman. His inauguration, held at a university auditorium before Congress, marks a further shift to the right in the region.
King Felipe VI of Spain, acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Latin American presidents including Argentina’s Javier Milei, Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa and Chile’s José Antonio Kast all attended.
After the ceremony, de la Espriella plans to travel to a military battalion in Cali to address the troops. He aims to boost the morale of the service members and simultaneously warn the illegal armed groups operating in the area that they must surrender or face being declared “military targets.”
De la Espriella, who calls himself “El Tigre” or “The Tiger,” has pledged to tackle the persistent violence in Colombia by breaking with Petro’s policy of negotiating with armed groups, arguing that the peace process has failed.
Security became the main challenge of the swearing-in ceremony. Authorities deployed several checkpoints to search vehicles, looking for potential suspects or explosives.
Illegal economies, such as drug trafficking and illegal mining, are disputed among groups like the dissident factions of the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia that did not accept the peace agreement signed a decade ago, the Clan del Golfo cartel, and the National Liberation Army guerrilla group.
De la Espriella, a Colombian-American citizen, comes to power after receiving the backing of U.S. President Donald Trump and as regional concerns grow about crime, immigration and the economy.
“His rise to power will reinforce this rightward shift across much of Latin America and consolidate a regional bloc of conservative governments against a dwindling number of left-wing administrations,” Glaeldys González, an analyst with the International Crisis Group for the Andes, told The Associated Press.
De la Espriella has said that his government will unite Colombia with the “Shield of the Americas,” a regional coalition to fight drug trafficking that emerged from the summit held by Trump in March.
He also announced that he will resume diplomatic relations with Israel and sever them with Cuba and Nicaragua, which he considers “tyrannies.”
De la Espriella will face robust opposition from Petro, who at first refused to recognize his electoral victory and insisted on alleged fraud, claiming that results from thousands of tally sheets were manipulated by programmers. The accusations of fraud have been dismissed by international observers as well as electoral authorities in Colombia.
However, the outgoing president left the presidential palace Friday saying he would respect the popular will.
Petro, who did not attend, will be “relentless” and “acerbic” as an opponent, seeking to strengthen his leadership, said political analyst Sergio Guzmán.
Petro has urged social movements in the southwest of the country to organize “people’s militias” to defend themselves against potential attacks from what he called the “fascists,” and called on his supporters to prepare for a general strike should they try to imprison him after he leaves office. Petro was named a “priority target” by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the AP reported in March.
These kinds of calls from Petro, coupled with the hard-line approach de la Espriella intends, increase the likelihood of “confrontations during demonstrations or more forceful responses from the authorities,” according to Andrés Macías, a researcher specializing in conflict and peace at Externado University.
In Cali, where Petro has a large following and most voted for Cepeda, social and student organizations protested. Demonstrations also took place in Bogota and Barranquilla.
“Here we are defending dignity, resisting and making it clear that he (de la Espriella) did not win here and we are letting him know it,” Sebastián Ocampo, 25, told the AP while demonstrating in Puerto Resistencia, a residential area of Cali that was the epicenter of massive anti-government protests in 2021.
“There are very divided opinions in Cali ... we are just hoping that the demonstrations will be peaceful,” said Amanda Castro, a 29-year-old merchant from southern Cali.
Follow the AP’s Latin America coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Colombia's President Abelardo de la Espriella salutes after taking the oath of office in Cali, Colombia, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella arrives for his inauguration in Cali, Colombia, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)
Colombia's President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella arrives with his family for his inauguration in Cali, Colombia, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)
Colombia's President Abelardo de la Espriella waves after receiving the presidential sash from Senate President Honorio Henriquez during his inauguration in Cali, Colombia, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Francesca kisses her father, Colombia's President Abelardo de la Espriella, after he took the oath of office in Cali, Colombia, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Soldiers inspect a car at a security checkpoint ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella in Cali, Colombia, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)
A soldier keeps watch from the turret of an armored vehicle ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella in Cali, Colombia, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)
Soldiers stand guard along a road ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella in Cali, Colombia, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)
Police inspect vehicles at a checkpoint ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella in Cali, Colombia, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
A soldier keeps watch from the turret of an armored vehicle ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella in Cali, Colombia, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)
