The Raiders' rookie will make his first start at center in Week 9 against the Bengals

When the Raiders take the field in Cincinnati on Sunday, they will have a new starting center. Regular center Andre James is out with an ankle injury, meaning Jackson Powers-Johnson will move from left guard to center.

“We've had Jackson there the last couple days, we'll leave him there and kind of let the guys stay there,” Pierce said of the center position. “We've been changing the line quite a bit now due to injuries, so we're doing our best to maintain some continuity there and let the guys who have been training all week play where they've been training.”

Powers-Johnson was selected by the Raiders with the 44th overall pick in the second round of this year's draft out of Oregon.

Last season with the Ducks, JPJ won the Rimington Award as the best center in the country. But the Raiders needed him at guard first since they had James at center.

Currently, the Raiders have several linemen with center experience, including the two linemen who could start at either guard spot on Sunday – Cody Whitehair and Dylan Parham. However, Whitehair's days at center stage are long gone and most of Parham's experience is at guard.

JPJ filled in at center for the final 16 snaps in last Sunday's game against the Chiefs when James suffered an ankle injury, and the team will stick with him for at least this week and perhaps longer depending on James' recovery timeline the injury and how well JPJ holds his own at the position.

This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: Raiders rookie makes first start at center in Week 9 against Bengals