PLAYER NOTES
–DE Yannick Ngakoue has 14 tackles, 4.5 sacks and one interception in five games against the Colts, the most of those three categories he has against any team in the NFL.
–LB Telvin Smith Sr. had a team-high nine tackles against Buffalo in Week 12 and has now posted at least six tackles in 15 of his last 16 games including three postseason games.
–CB Jalen Ramsey did not practice on Wednesday due to a knee injury. It’s an injury that has hampered Ramsey for several weeks now.
–WR DJ Chark Jr. who missed last week’s game due to a quadriceps injury, remained out and missed Wednesday’s practice.
–FS Tashaun Gipson Sr. was held out of Wednesday’s practice due to an ankle injury.
–T Josh Walker, who has missed the last two games with a foot/ankle injury, returned to practice on a limited basis on Wednesday.
–DT Marcell Dareus, who missed last week’s game against Buffalo, practiced Wednesday on a limited basis.
–DE Calais Campbell was limited in Wednesday’s practice with an ankle injury.
–RT Jermey Parnell who will become the only starter on the offensive line to have started all 12 games come this Sunday, practiced on a limited basis on Wednesday due to a knee injury.
–LG Andrew Norwell who had started all 11 games up until now, was placed on IR on Monday with an ankle injury.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: QB Cody Kessler. Kessler will replace Blake Bortles as the starter for Sunday’s game against the Colts, snapping a streak of 72 consecutive starts for Bortles. It wasn’t that Kessler took the starting job away from Bortles, but rather that Bortles relinquished it to Kessler. Bortles has struggled for a majority of the Jaguars’ 11 games this year and has passed for less than 150 yards four times in his last six games, all of which are a part of the team’s current seven-game losing streak. Kessler has appeared in just one other game this year, replacing Bortles in the third quarter of the Houston game in Week 7. He completed 21-of-30 passes for 156 yards, one TD and one interception. Kessler, acquired in a trade in March from the Cleveland Browns, has a quicker release than Bortles but lacks the ability to scramble for yardage that Bortles can. But with the passing game becoming a non-threat to opposing defenses, the change was made to Kessler with the hope the Jaguars can find some production to go with a solid running game.
GAME PLAN: It’s unclear what direction the Jaguars brass will take the offense with quarterback Cody Kessler now leading the offense. Kessler doesn’t have the strongest arm but he compensates that with accuracy and throwing a crisp pass, something that Blake Bortles has struggled with at times this year. The Jaguars are hopeful that with Kessler being more effective in throwing the ball, it will keep the Colts defense from stacking the box with seven or eight defenders which is what Buffalo did last week. This should create more running opportunities but the run game takes a hit for this game with the suspension of top running back Leonard Fournette due to the punches that he threw after leaving the sideline last week against the Bills. Jacksonville will likely split running duties with T.J. Yeldon and Carlos Hyde, the latter of whom has seen limited action in his backup role to Fournette. Defensively, look for the Jaguars to go with a heavy dosage of nickel packages and sometimes a dime formation in trying to keep Andrew Luck from beating them like he did several weeks ago.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
–Jaguars RBs T.J. Yeldon and Carlos Hyde vs. Colts front seven. With Leonard Fournette out due to a one-game, league-imposed suspension, it will bring added carries to Yeldon and Hyde. Neither player has been pleased with results in recent games. After rushing for more than 50 yards in four of the Jaguars first five games this year, Yeldon has not made it to the 30-yard mark the last five contests, totaling 86 yards on 25 carries (3.4 average) in that span. Hyde is equally frustrated. Since the Jaguars acquired him prior to Week 7 games, Hyde has rushed for 93 yards on 27 carries (also 3.4 average). Neither player has had more than eight carries in a game the last four outings but that could change for both players this week. The Colts, led by rookie LB Darius Leonard has been much more effective in stopping opposing rushing attacks (106.4 yards per game, 12th in the league) compared to stopping passing games (253.9, 20th). Leonard has excelled in his first season, his 114 total tackles is tops in the NFL. He’s also notched a sack in each of the past two games and has six on the year to go with four forced fumbles and an interception.
–Colts TEs Eric Ebron and Mo Alie-Cox vs Jaguars secondary. Rest assured the Jaguars will have a game plan to contain Ebron this time. They appeared to not recognize Ebron’s talents in the first meeting several weeks ago. That’s when Ebron caught three passes for 69 yards and two TDs and Alie-Cox had two receptions for 28 yards and one score. Add in a third tight end in Jack Doyle who finished with three catches for 36 yards and the Colts three tight ends finished with eight receptions for 133 yards and three TDs. Doyle went on IR this week so he won’t be a concern but that could create more opportunities for Ebron and Alie-Cox. Ebron’s 53-yard reception for his first score in the opening quarter came with no Jaguars defender within 15 yards of him. He went on to add a third score when he found the end zone on a 2-yard, end-around run. The Jaguars secondary has had problems with communicating schemes this year, often losing track of a receiver who was left unattended and made it to the end zone.
