Category: A.J. Cann

Urban Meyer believes OG A.J. Cann will be out for the season

Jags coach Urban Meyer believes the team will be without veteran guard A.J. Cann for the rest of the season, who sustained an MCL injury vs. Cincinnati.

The Jacksonville Jaguars offense has improved as of the last three to four weeks but has done so while unfortunately sustaining a few injuries along the way. The most significant was the loss of receiver DJ Chark Jr., who will miss the rest of the season due to a fractured ankle that he sustained Week 4 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

If that wasn’t tough enough, it appears they will be without another starter on the unit in A.J. Cann, who went on injured reserve on Oct. 4 with a right MCL injury. In his weekly radio show (see in the video below), Jags coach Urban Meyer revealed that he believes Cann will be out for the rest of the season, which means second-year player Ben Bartch will now start in his place for the remainder of the season.

“Well, Bartch went into the game [Week 4 against Cincinnati and beyond] and he’s been very solid to replace A.J. Cann,” Meyer said when asked about the performance of his backup offensive linemen. “A.J. Cann I believe is out for the season.”

For a team that needs as many of its starters as healthy as possible, the news about Cann’s situation is something that will concern fans. However, his injury does give the staff a chance to see what they have in Bartch, who could’ve potentially been their starting right guard of 2022 as Cann is on the last year of his contract. Instead of waiting, though, they will get an early preview instead.

Overall, Bartch has already played 155 snaps this year due to other injury situations that occurred along the interior of the offensive line. He’s accumulated a Pro Football Focus grade of 53.3 in the process, but it’s possible he can get on the right track now that he’s permanently going to see time on the field this year.

If he plays well, it will give the Jags another very affordable starter (still on his rookie deal) on their offensive line to groom alongside their young quarterback in Trevor Lawrence. If not, the team could address the guard position in free agency or the draft of 2022.

C.J. Henderson, A.J. Cann questionable to return in Week 2 game vs. Broncos

Two more Jaguars starters are questionable to return after leaving the game with injuries.

After losing tight end James O’Shaughnessy in the first half with an ankle injury, Jacksonville suffered another pair of injuries to their starting group. Cornerback C.J. Henderson and right guard A.J. Cann left the game with a hip injury and hamstring injury, respectively. They are both listed as questionable to return.

The Jaguars are trailing the Denver Broncos 20-7, and it seems they’ll be undermanned for the fourth quarter. With Henderson out, Chris Claybrooks and Tyson Campbell have played opposite Shaquill Griffin, while backup guard Ben Bartch is playing for Cann.

Henderson is having a very solid start to the season after failing to make much of an impact in his limited action as a rookie. Cann, meanwhile, struggled mightily in Week 1 against Houston, and entered this week with a 38.o overall grade, per Pro Football Focus.

Still, the offensive line is a thin position group for the Jaguars, and they can’t afford to lose many players in the starting group. Similar depth issues also exist at corner, so it’s imperative that both of these players are able to return to the field in the near future.

Jags activate OG A.J. Cann off Reserve/COVID-19 list, waive Aaron Patrick

The Jags’ starting offensive line is now a step closer to being ready to take the field together as A.J. Cann is now back on the active roster.

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ starting offensive line didn’t get to play a game together this preseason but are one step closer to doing so for their regular season opener. Guard A.J. Cann was activated off their Reserve/COVID-19 list Monday after being placed on it on Aug. 27, which occurred on the week leading into their last preseason game.

To make space for him on the roster, they waived pass-rusher Aaron Patrick.

The return of Cann was expected for the team as their staff has been saying that the starting offensive line would be ready for Sunday’s game. With him returning, Trevor Lawrence and the offense are getting back a player who has started in 90 games and garnered a Pro Football Focus grade of 69.0 last season.

Now, fans can turn their attention to the returns of center Brandon Linder (patella tendinitis), left guard Andrew Norwell (elbow), and left tackle Cam Robinson (ankle), that is if they haven’t all returned by now. All three missed the last two preseason games but could end up not surfacing on the Jags’ first injury report of the year, which will come out on Wednesday.

As for Patrick, the Jags signed him to their practice squad back in December of last year. It’s possible they could bring him back through their practice squad, but it was clear that subtractions were coming on the defensive side as they named only 21 offensive players to their initial roster.

A.J. Cann discusses bond with Brandon Linder and Jawaan Taylor

A.J. Cann discussed his bond with both Brandon Linder and Jawaan Taylor on an episode of the “O-Zone Podcast.”

Guard A.J. Cann has seen a lot of iterations of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The third-longest tenured member of the Jaguars (behind fellow offensive linemen Brandon Linder and Tyler Shatley), the 2015 third-round pick has started 90 of the 91 games he’s appeared in throughout his career, and he’s had three head coaches and two general managers in that time.

So any quick change to the franchise’s culture would be easily recognized by Cann. He discussed the difference he’s felt during the first offseason under Urban Meyer on an episode of the “O-Zone Podcast” with Jaguars writer John Oehser.

“We know where he wants to go,” Cann said. “He wants to win and he wants to win now. As a team, we’re hungry. We hear a hungry head coach talking like that and working his butt off to give us everything he can to win and increase our value. That makes you want to go out there and give it all you have for a guy like that. He’s been everything and all of that since he has been here.”

Cann is a part of the position group expected to have the most continuity under the new regime. The offensive line is the most experienced unit on the team, and Cann plays between the most experienced member of the offensive line in Linder and the least experienced in Jawaan Taylor, a former second-round pick who the Jags believe has a lot of potential.

Cann discussed his relationship with both on Oehser’s podcast, saying that the group is often on the same page and communicates well due to the amount of time they’ve played together.

“Just knowing who you’re going to battle with, and knowing that person in and out,” Cann said. “I’ve been beside Brandon for a while. Sometimes when we see something, we’ll look at each other and it’s like, ‘You saw that? I saw it, too.’ I just know what he’s thinking about and I am able to think on the same page.

“It’s the same with Jawaan: He can make a point and I say, ‘I’m already watching it.’ That’s a cool thing. You can feel the presence of the group. We’ve got guys who have been there. We made some strides last year. We’re working to build on that.”

Cann remains one of the more consistent members of the Jacksonville offensive line, and it’s why he’s held down a starting job for so long. In 919 snaps in 2020, he allowed only two sacks, per Pro Football Focus. His play, along with the play of his cohorts, will be key in both the development of rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence and building off the strides made in the run game last season.

Jags depth chart prediction: Offensive line

Jags fans entered 2020 with a lot of concerns about the OL and with the team only drafting one player on the unit, it may not change.

We started our depth chart predictions around this time last week and have previewed the quarterbacks, running backs, tight ends, and receivers so far. That leaves just one unit on the offensive side: the offensive line. Here are our predictions for how the unit could turn out in the trenches:

Left tackle Left guard Center Right Guard Right Tackle
No. 1 Cam Robinson Andrew Norwell Brandon Linder A.J. Cann Jawaan Taylor
No. 2 Will Richardson KC McDermott Tyler Shatley Ben Bartch* Ryan Pope
No. 3 Blake Hance Tyler Gauthier Tre’Vour Wallace-Simms* Steven Nielsen*

Left tackle

Cam Robinson will enter 2020 as the starter and will be on a contract year. It appears he might also have some competition to remain a starter as the Jags will be letting Will Richardson settle in at left tackle, too. Right now, I’d say the edge goes to Robinson, but it’s probably not a certainty as he’s been up and down on the blindside.

Behind them could be Blake Hance, who will be entering his second season but has no starts to his name. When looking at his background, however, he was a starter for multiple years at left tackle in college at Northwestern University.

Left guard

Andrew Norwell has been underwhelming since joining the Jags in 2018 via free agency. The team renegotiated his deal this offseason but he still will come with a $9 million (all guaranteed) price tag, so he’ll be starting.

It’s unknown who will be a reserve behind Norwell at left guard, so I slotted KC McDermott there for the time being. He’s been developing on the team’s practice squad for two seasons and it’s about time he enters the season on the final roster as he played at a variety of offensive line spots in college at Miami.

Center

There aren’t many who would disagree that Brandon Linder is the best offensive lineman on the team. As one of the team’s generals, he’ll enter 2020 with another solid season behind him as he registered a 75.3 Pro Football Focus grade, good for the best on the offensive line.

Behind him will be the Jags’ most experienced reserve offensive lineman in Tyler Shatley. He’ll enter 2020 with 16 starts, and like Linder, he possesses the ability to play both guard and center if the team has to do some shuffling.

Tyler Gauthier joined the team in early December of last year as a reserve. He previously played guard and center during the preseason process with the New England Patriots but was designated to their practice squad in the regular season. With a solid preseason, he has a small shot to make the roster on the back end, but if not, he’s a perfect candidate for practice squad.

Right guard

While it hasn’t always been pretty, A.J. Cann will come into the 2020 season as one of the team’s most experienced players, with 75 career starts to his name. He’ll have some competition from fourth-round rookie selection, Ben Bartch, who the team believes is a developmental project for now.

Behind those two could be the massive Tre’Vour Wallace-Simms (6-foot-5, 330-pounds), who went undrafted in April’s draft. He could be a sleeper to make the team after being a starter for Missouri since 2017 and earning all-conference honors in 2018.

Right tackle

Rookie Jawaan Taylor started in every game for the Jags a right tackle and finished strong after struggling mightily with penalties earlier in the season. He’ should only get better with more experience and fans should be encouraged about his future.

Behind him on the depth chart could be Ryan Pope, who joined the Jags’ practice squad last year as an undrafted free agent. Before that, he spent time on the Detroit Lions’ and San Francisco 49ers’ practice squad so he’s unproven on the NFL level. He’ll get an opportunity to prove himself as a practice squad candidate in the preseason and it will likely come at the right or left tackle positions when considering his background at San Diego State.

As for undrafted free agent Steven Nielsen, a majority of his collegiate starts at Eastern Michigan came at right guard, which makes him a candidate to battle Pope for a practice squad spot this offseason.