Category: Brandon Linder

Center Brandon Linder, safety Josh Jones to miss Jags’ Week 10 game vs. Packers

The Jacksonville Jaguars announced that they will be without two more key players when they travel to Green Bay Sunday. Those players will be starting center Brandon Linder (back injury) and safety Josh Jones (chest injury). OL Brandon Linder will …

The Jacksonville Jaguars announced that they will be without two more key players when they travel to Green Bay Sunday. Those players will be starting center Brandon Linder (back injury) and safety Josh Jones (chest injury).

This news comes after Linder surfaced on the final injury report as questionable with a back injury. He was listed as a non-participant in practice for Wednesday and Friday, but was limited on Thursday.

Playing in Linder’s place will be Tyler Shatley, who has already started in three games this season in the interior for the Jags. Those games came against the Miami Dolphins, Cincinnati Bengals, and Los Angeles Chargers.

As for Jones he was limited all week, but was ruled questionable on the final report and will be headed to injured reserve. He shared time with rookie Daniel Thomas last week at safety against the Houston Texans. As a result, Thomas could get the nod this week for the start, or the Jags could go to second-year player Andrew Wingard, who was activated off injured reserve Saturday.

Jones won’t be eligible to return for another three games as a result of going on IR. That means he won’t be eligible for activation until Week 13’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.

5 Jaguars to watch vs. the Texans

Laviska Shenault will come into Week 5’s game against the Texans with a lot of momentum, as a result, he’ll be a key player to watch Sunday.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will be looking for their second win of the season against the Houston Texans on Sunday, and despite them being winless, it’s expected to be a dog fight. Simply put, that’s the way divisional games simply are and the Texans’ talent level seems to be a little more even with the Jags’ than in years past.

For the Jags’ staff, this game feels like a crucial must-win situation. If they can somehow stop the bleeding from a three-game losing streak, they would be a game away from .500 with another winnable game coming up Week 6 against the Detroit Lions.

As always, the Jags will at least need a handful of players to step up and lead the team against Houston. Here are five who we think will be worth watching if the team is to acquire it’s second victory of the season:

RB James Robinson

With the Texans’ rush defense being last in the NFL and allowing an average of over 180 yards a game, James Robinson should be in for a great day. The undrafted rookie sensation stunned the league during the first quarter of the season, exiting the process with 60 carries for 285 rushing yards and three touchdowns as a rusher. He also flashed as a receiver, registering 14 receptions for 161 yards.

Not only could Robinson be a key to putting points on the boards for the Jags, but he also should be the biggest all-around key for the team. With his skills on the ground, the team could dominate the time of possession and keep their wounded and struggling defense off the field.

Center Brandon Linder

The leader of the Jags offensive line will be returning to the lineup after missing Weeks 3-4 with a knee injury he sustained in the second quarter of the Jags’ game against the Tennessee Titans. That’s no only huge for the aforementioned Robinson, but the offense in general.

Linder has faced this Texans front more than any lineman on the team as a draft pick from the 2014 class. They only catch about facing them this time is that he doesn’t have to face the tough D.J. Reader, who joined the Cincinnati Bengals in free-agency. As Houston’s rush defense reflects, that’s a huge loss, which means Linder could have a dominant day upon his return.

WR Laviska Shenault Jr.

Again, the key to beating the Texans is through running the ball. However, that’s not to say the Jags won’t need contributions through the air. Luckily, for Laviska Shenault Jr. he does both and I believe he’ll be a key contributor as a result.

Shenault has not only been one of the Jags’ key contributors, but he’s been one of the best rookies in the game. He’ll come into Week 5 after a career high of five receptions for 86 yards. It wouldn’t be wrong to expect a similar day or better in addition with some effective carries as the Texans are also allowing a 71% completion rate.

DE K’Lavon Chaisson

The Jags first-round pick from April is set to get his first start with Josh Allen being ruled out. He’s going to need to have a good day, too, if the Jags are to win as Deshaun Watson can hurt the Jags with his legs or his arm.

It’s been a struggle for K’Lavon Chaisson this season and the rookie will enter Week 5’s game with a Pro Football Focus grade of 52.9, seven total tackles, and a sack. However, in the Jags’ divisional games, he’s made impact plays and that could be the case against Houston.

Against Indy (Week 1) he had a pick, but it was taken back due to a holding penalty. The next week, against the Tennessee Titans, he acquired his first sack, so there clearly is big play ability in Chaisson’s arsenal.

Safety Jarrod Wilson

Even aside from Allen, the Jags had a lot of names from their defense on this week’s injury report. They could be without two more starters in linebacker Myles Jack (ankle) and cornerback CJ Henderson (shoulder), too,  as both were ruled questionable on Friday. Simply put, without either or both players, the Jags’ defense is going to have an uphill battle on their hands if the team wants a victory.

However, one positive is that the team will gain a starter back in Jarrod Wilson, who was placed on IR after Week 1’s victory over Indy with a hamstring injury. While he’s a player who fans don’t refer to as an “impact player” he was clearly missed with Andrew Wingard replacing him in the lineup. As many found out, Wingard is more of a special teams player and teams picked on him on occasions.

That said, maybe Wilson could give them better coverage and positioning on the opponents as he’s much more experienced than Wingard.

Jaguars injury report: A.J. Cann, several others upgraded to full participation Thursday

Jags guard A.J. Cann was one of three starters on the Jags injury report to be upgraded Thursday after missing practice on Wednesday.

The Jacksonville Jaguars upgraded several players to full participation Thursday in preparation for the Cincinnati Bengals. Among them were guard A.J. Cann (illness) and safeties Brandon Watson (knee) and Andrew Wingard (core muscle), all of whom were limited Wednesday.

Cann’s return to full participation was one many predicted, however, Wingard’s situation is good news as he left Week 3’s game against the Miami Dolphins in the second quarter. Watson was the player to replace him, which means that the Jags could’ve had low numbers at safety Sunday if either didn’t make progress health-wise.

The most notable name on the injury report , D.J. Chark, remained a limited participant in practice after missing last Thursday’s game. Earlier in the week, coach Doug Marrone said the team had been awaiting some tests for Chark to return to practice, and evidently, those tests came back good enough.

Another key name on the injury report who was limited was newly acquired kicker Stephen Hauschka, who didn’t participate in practice Wednesday. This could be a sign that he may be a full participant Friday and is trending to potentially be ruled probable on the final injury report.

The last notable name on the injury report was center Brandon Linder, who once again didn’t participate in practice after missing Wednesday’s session. The veteran has been recovering from a knee injury he sustained in the third quarter of the Jags’ Week 2 game against the Tennessee Titans, which caused him to miss Week 3’s game against the Dolphins. Tyler Shatley has been playing in his spot since the injury and that would once again be the case Sunday if Linder can’t suit up.

Listen to the latest from Jags Wire’s own James Johnson and Phil Smith on their podcast “Bleav in the Jags.” Subscribe via Apple Podcasts and check out our archived episodes via Bleav Podcasts.

Jags injury report: WR D.J. Chark practices on a limited basis Monday

The Jags’ first injury report for Week 3 only had four players on it, including WR D.J. Chark who was limited.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will have a short week to prepare for their next game as they will face the Miami Dolphins for Thursday Night Football. Luckily, there weren’t many injuries to deal with after their game against the Tennessee Titans and only four players surface on the injury report Monday. Those players were receiver D.J. Chark Jr. (chest), tight end Tyler Davis (knee), center Brandon Linder (knee), and safety Brandon Watson (illness).

Chark and Davis were both limited while Linder and Watson didn’t practice.

Chark is a new addition to the injury report and wasn’t on it last week. However, with him surfacing on the report as a limited participant, it appears the Jags will slowly work him up to full participation before Thursday’s game.

Davis, on the other hand, has been on the report since the opening week of the season. He’s been a non-participant the whole time and Monday marked his first time practicing this regular season.

As previously reported, Linder was ruled day-to-day after sustaining a knee injury in the third quarter of Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans. He didn’t return after being ruled questionable and Tyler Shatley took his place for the remainder of the game. If Linder is unavailable, Shatley will remain in the lineup Week 3 as he’s started in seven games at the center position for the Jags.

Jags center Brandon Linder avoids IR, will be day-to-day

Jaguars team captain Brandon Linder won’t have to go on injured reserve after suffering a knee injury Sunday against the Titans Sunday.

The NFL had a concerning amount of scary injuries on Sunday with many marquee names having to go on injured reserve, or sit out the remainder of the season. The Jacksonville Jaguars received a scare of their own when center Brandon Linder went down in the third quarter of Week 2’s game against the Tennessee Titans after sustaining a knee injury.

Fortunately, on Monday coach Doug Marrone announced that Linder won’t need to go on IR and will be day-to-day. Marrone added that he wasn’t sure about Linder’s availability for the Jags’ next game, which will be a primetime Thursday night matchup with the Miami Dolphins.

Linder was replaced by veteran backup Tyler Shatley, and despite the change, the Jags were able to move the ball down the field on the same drive and scored with a rushing attempt by James Robinson.

If Linder isn’t available there certainly will be a drop-off, but Shatley is battle tested and started in seven games at center for Linder back in 2018 when the veteran went down with another knee injury. He’s started in eight other contests at guard, bringing his start total to 15 since joining the Jags in 2014.

Jags center Brandon Linder leaves game vs. Titans with a knee injury

Brandon Linder exited Week 2’s game against the Titans with a knee injury and was ruled questionable to return.

The NFL was hit severely with the injury bug Week 2 and that included one injury for the Jacksonville Jaguars. During the team’s first series after the first half, center Brandon Linder went down with a knee injury and was ruled questionable.

Tyler Shatley was brought in to replace Linder once the injury occured.

Despite Linder being the team’s best offensive lineman, the Jags were somehow able to score a touchdown on the drive with a 18-yard rushing touchdown by James Robinson. That put the score at 27-17 with the Titans still up.

Look: Brandon Linder, Blake Bortles reunite for a fishing session

Despite not being on the Jags’ roster anymore, Blake Bortles seems to remain close with some on the team still, including center Brandon Linder.

While Blake Bortles hasn’t suited up for the Jacksonville Jaguars for quite some time, there are several members on the current roster who are still close to him. None may be closer than center Brandon Linder, who exchange more snaps with Bortles than many can remember.

This week the two linked up once again for a little sea fishing session that resulted in some nice catches.

It’s certainly nice to see the B.O.A.T doing well and keeping tabs with his teammates who took the field with him in Jacksonville. As a free agent at the moment, Bortles looks to have had a little down time with teams being on break, and what better way to unwind than a fishing trip.

With the coronavirus being a huge concern in America and cases bound to come within the NFL, it’s a strong chance Bortles could find a team to latch on with in the regular season. Then again, with training camps set to start in late July, he may even get a call before teams return to their facilities as he brings plenty of starting experience to the table.

Brandon Linder named Jags’ most underrated player by PFF

In evaluating every team’s most underrated player, PFF came to the conclusion that Brandon Linder deserves some more respect.

Due to the Jacksonville Jaguars not winning a lot of games when looking at the past decade, their good players get overlooked. One of those players who has flown under-the-radar for a while is offensive lineman Brandon Linder, who is the lone member on the team from the 2014 draft class.

While most national pundits have overlooked Linder as one of the better offensive linemen in football, Pro Football Focus has taken note of him. In fact, when looking at all 32 teams, they listed him as the Jags’ most underrated player in an article posted this week.

Jacksonville Jaguars: C Brandon Linder

Playing on a contract worth over $50 million in total, it’s clear that the Jaguars recognize the value Linder has provided. But he’s still a player you don’t hear about often in conversations about the league’s top interior offensive linemen. Since entering the league in 2014, Linder ranks 11th among qualifying guards and centers in overall grade, and he ranks fourth among centers since taking over the starting job there in 2016, trailing only Jason Kelce, Alex Mack and Travis Frederick. That looks like a resume that is deserving of at least one Pro Bowl appearance to me.

Coincidentally, Jags contributor Phil Smith and I just discussed how under-appreciated Linder is and listed him as one of Dave Caldwell’s top-5 draft picks in our upcoming episode of “Bleav in the Jags.” When healthy, he’s been the most consistent player on the offensive line and his longevity on the team is proof.

Linder will be entering his seventh season in 2020 and will be coming off a year where he accumulated a Pro Football Focus score of 75.3. That was good for the best grade on the offensive line and he should likely be the team’s highest-graded lineman in 2020 when considering his consistency.

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.

Jaguars come in at No. 26 spot on PFF’s regular season OL rankings

Without a shadow of a doubt, most Jacksonville Jaguars fans would like to see the team address the offensive line to some degree this offseason. Despite the resources Dave Caldwell and company put into the position with high draft picks and steep …

Without a shadow of a doubt, most Jacksonville Jaguars fans would like to see the team address the offensive line to some degree this offseason. Despite the resources Dave Caldwell and company put into the position with high draft picks and steep contracts, things haven’t quite panned out for the group and it’s hard to envision the team not making any changes within the unit.

The data recently accumulated by Pro Football Focus in 2019 further validates that changes are needed and will likely in the trenches as the Jags finished the regular season with the No. 26 ranked offensive line. According to them, a key reason behind their struggles were partly due to Cam Robinson, who had a rough season though it’s worth noting he was coming off a 2018 ACL tear.

26. Jacksonville Jaguars

After returning from an injury-shortened second season, left tackle Cam Robinson showed more of the form that we saw from him as a rookie when he posted one of the worst pressure rates allowed in the NFL (9.0%). This season, Robinson allowed 45 pressures at left tackle in 552 pass-blocking snaps for a slightly improved — yet, still concerning — rate of 8.2%. As this ranking would suggest, Robinson wasn’t the only player along the line who struggled. Outside of Brandon Linder, there wasn’t a whole lot to get excited about for Jacksonville up front.

According to PFF, Robinson accumulated a grade of 54.8, a total tied for the worse amongst the whole starting offensive line with A.J. Cann. Simply put, that’s not good for someone who the Jags selected in the second-round and hoped could become their franchise player on the blindside. Add in the fact that he was tied for fifth in penalties in the league with 10, and it’s possible the Jags may look for new options at left tackle despite Robinson being young.

However, the young left tackle has been far from the only issue within the unit.

The Jags made Andrew Norwell the highest-paid guard in football temporarily but he hasn’t looked close to the player we saw dominate with the Carolina Panthers. As previously mentioned, the Jags’ other guard in Cann, didn’t really look any better either.

As for the positives with the unit, rookie right tackle Jawaan Taylor had a rough start to his career, too, accumulating the second-highest penalty total in the league (15), but at least came on strong towards the end of the season and cleaned up several issues. As mentioned by PFF above, Brandon Linder was the unit’s most encouraging player accumulating a score of 75.7. While it’s worth noting he had 10 penalties on the season, too, he did enough to keep his job in 2020. 

When considering all the data above, Linder and Taylor are the two that will be a part of the offensive line without question in 2020. However, the left and right guard spots, as well as the left tackle spot, should definitely be evaluated for upgrades. They could also use a new positions coach, too, though George Warhop has only had a year with them.

If the Jags attack the needs of the unit right this offseason, they could put a respectable product on the field, and maybe even get back to the level of play fans saw in 2017. With a lot of draft capital by their sides, maybe the draft will provide a starter or two, which would be huge in a crucial year for Caldwell and Marrone.