Andre Jackson admits it’s difficult to watch his UConn basketball teammates practice from the sidelines, especially with the season opener rapidly approaching.

Coach Dan Hurley can attest to that.

“Andre has not handled being hurt well,” Hurley said last week. “I’ve had to yell at him to stop dribbling around like it’s the Jersey City boys’ club in practice. … He’s doing stuff with the ball on side courts and distracting people. He wants to be out there.”

It will be interesting to see how the Huskies handle playing without Jackson, whose broken right pinky finger suffered in practice earlier this month is expected to sideline him for at least the next couple of weeks.

The projected date for Jackson’s return is by the PK85 Invitational, a three-game tournament in Portland, Oregon,set to start Nov. 24.

That means Jackson could miss as many as five games, starting with the regular-season opener Monday, Nov. 7, against Stonehill College in Hartford.

Jackson, whom Hurley believes could develop into an NBA first-round pick by the end of the season, will be hard to replace given his value to the team.

“You can ill afford to lose any significant players,” Hurley said. “You certainly don’t want to lose one of your best players and one of maybe your biggest playmakers on the court in terms of everything he brings to the table.

“He’s a tone-setter. He’s going to be one of the elite defenders in the country. He’s a guy that’s going to average four or five assists a game. We put this roster together with him in mind as a key facilitator, not necessarily as a point guard for our team but somebody that’s going to create a lot of scoring.

“We’re hoping he can be back on time for PK85, maybe even have a chance if everything were to go great to get in even a game or two potentially before that.”

Until then, Jackson plans to do his part to try to stay sharp, in shape and in tune with his teammates.

He’s already looking at the bright side of being injured.

“It definitely helped me to change my perspective and start focusing on just taking care of my body better and prioritizing my body and my health over everything,” Jackson said. “Without my body, I can’t go and play the game that I love to play. It definitely gave me a great appreciation for the sport and helped me come back to the realization that I have to be locked in on all aspects of my life so that I can go out there and play basketball.”

Jackson is making the best of the situation by focusing on what he can do and being a vocal team leader is at the top of the list.

When several players transferred out of the program, Jackson fully embraced the leadership role, impressing Hurley enough to name the junior a team captain along with Adama Sanogo.

“When everybody transferred out, it hurt me honestly,” Jackson said. “I felt like a lot of guys left us but I feel like it also made us stronger because everybody that chose to stay really wanted to be a part of this team and really be a part of this organization. So it made it a lot easier to get everybody to be all in on the same boat and chasing the same goals.”

Team chemistry is an area to watch with eight new players on the roster.

Jackson will use his time on the sidelines to continue to work on tightening the team’s bond.

“I’m seeing the game from the sidelines from a coach’s perspective, watching film with (assistant) coach Luke (Murray) and talking to coaches about what they see, just trying to pick everybody’s brain and trying to get these other guys acclimated because they’re all coming from different programs,” Jackson said.

“... I’m trying to get them more comfortable.”

The Huskies will be a lot more comfortable when Jackson returns.

For the first few weeks of the regular season, the Huskies will need to rely on their depth, which Hurley considers a team strength, to fill the void.

They’re loaded on the perimeter with the addition of transfers Tristen Newton, Hassan Diarra, Nahiem Alleyne and Joey Calcaterra. Hurley believes that sophomore Jordan Hawkins will have a breakout year.

“It’s going to have to be a collective thing,” Hurley said. “There’s no one in the program that can just replace a lot of the things that he does.”

Being a spectator on game days will be difficult for Jackson.

He plans to be the loudest player on the bench.

“I’m just an energy guy,” Jackson said. “I want to win so bad so I’m going to be rooting for these guys with everything that I’ve got. At the end of the day, as long as we win, I’m satisfied. My individual success doesn’t matter as much to me as the team’s success.”

It will be an adjustment for Hurley and the Huskies, too.

UConn will have to play somewhat differently without Jackson.

“It changes a lot,” Hurley said. “There’s some things from a defensive standpoint that we know we’re going to have to stay away from doing. There’s some things from an offensive standpoint in the halfcourt, the way we’re going to attack opponents, that we’re going to have to stay away from doing.”

g.keefe@theday.com