–They say that over time, injuries in the NFL have a way of evening out. Get hit with a lot of injuries one season, a team may escape with minimal damage in that area the following season. In the Jaguars case, they are offsetting what was a mild, injury-free season in 2017 by getting hit hard with season-ending injuries this year. A year ago, the Jaguars placed just six players on injured reserve once the season started. The biggest loss was wide receiver Allen Robinson who suffered a torn ACL in the season opener. But the other five guys were all backup players with the exception of long snapper Matt Overton who was filling in for normal starter at that spot Carson Tinker. Tinker went on injured reserve the first week of training camp.
The Jaguars have not been so fortunate with injuries this year. Two more players were sent to injured reserve this week, including starting tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins along with reserve tight end Niles Paul. That makes eight players who were either starters or key reserves, now on IR, seven of whom were added since the second game of the regular season. Starting wide receiver Marqise Lee went on IR after the second preseason game, but the other seven made their way to the list since mid-September. Seferian-Jenkins is the only one who could return to the lineup this year, but that wouldn’t be before December.
–Ereck Flowers is hoping that a new city, a new locker room, a new opportunity will be the key to getting his career back on track. Flowers was released by the New York Giants after the team’s fifth game, a month after he lost his starting job to Chad Wheeler. Prior to that, Flowers had started 46 games in three seasons ever since he was a 2015 first-round selection (ninth overall) by the Giants.
“Great opportunities, great team and I’m happy to be here,” Flowers said after he signed a one-year contract with the Jaguars. “Definitely a fresh start for me. I like it here, man. I think this will be a better fit. They have a great locker room, great guys. I’m grateful to be here.”
BY THE NUMBERS: 34.5 – The number of combined sacks by DE Yannick Ngakoue and DL Calais Campbell since the beginning of the 2017 season, the most by any teammates in the NFL during this time. Ngakoue and Campbell combined for 8.0 sacks in two games against the Texans last year.
