Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson shared injury updates for starting tight end Evan Engram and safety/nickel cornerback Darnell Savage Jr. ahead of Jacksonville’s first practice of Week 3 before traveling to Buffalo for Monday Night Football.
Engram, who suffered a hamstring injury in the hours before kickoff in Week 2 against Cleveland, was considered “week-to-week” by Pederson on Monday. While the head coach tweaked Engram’s status to “day-by-day” Thursday, he indicated the tight end is not quite ready for a return to action.
“Evan, right now, he’s a little bit further away,” Pederson said. “So, you know, we’ll have to take it kind of day-by-day right now with him.”
Engram caught one pass for four yards in Jacksonville’s season-opener against Miami in Week 1. Starting in his place versus Cleveland was second-year Jaguars tight end Brenton Strange, who caught a career-high three passes for 65 yards on Sunday.
Pederson complimented Strange’s performance Thursday, suggesting it served as a confidence booster for the 23-year-old.
“I think it was big for Brenton. You know, that’s the type of player we know that he is, that he’s capable of being,” Pederson said. “He did some really good things, played well. Played physical too in the run game, which was good to see and he’s done that since he’s been here.
“So it just adds more to his confidence, obviously, and [he] just continues to I think grow with the offense and gets more opportunities.”
Savage also missed Jacksonville’s Week 2 matchup with Cleveland, after suffering a quadriceps injury in last Thursday’s practice that led the Jaguars to rule him out Friday.
Pederson suggested Savage will return to practice in some fashion on Thursday after not participating late last week.
“Sav, we’re going to work back into practice a little bit today and sort of get him progressed,” Pederson said. “So hopefully he is available [for Week 3].”
Without Savage available against the Browns, Andre Cisco and Antonio Johnson started the game at safety while the Jaguars’ defense operated in a 4-3 base to begin the contest.
Additionally, Jacksonville elevated cornerback Christian Braswell from its practice squad after deeming Savage out of Week 2. Braswell did not appear defensively against Cleveland, although he logged five special teams snaps.
Savage, who signed a three-year, $21.8 million free-agent contract with the Jaguars in March, tallied two defended passes in his Jacksonville debut against Miami.