The Jacksonville Jaguars had to do some offensive line shuffling after Cam Robinson landed on injured reserve last week. Walker Little moved from left guard to left tackle and Ezra Cleveland, who was acquired in a midseason trade, slotted in at left guard.
Now Little is hurt too with a hamstring injury that kept him out of the team’s Wednesday and Thursday practices. The plan, it seems, is for Cleveland to play at left tackle for the first time in his NFL career.
“I’ve taken some reps this week out there, getting used to it,” Cleveland said Thursday. “It’s new, but I’m gonna play wherever the team needs me. I don’t think it has to do with comfortability, I’m just gonna go out there and do what I do and try to play the game.”
Cleveland was a left tackle during his collegiate career at Boise State where he was a two-time First Team All-Mountain West selection. He was even drafted as an offensive tackle by the Minnesota Vikings, but played at guard as a rookie and never left the team’s interior offensive line.
So how difficult will it be to make the transition back to offensive tackle?
“I don’t know, I haven’t played a game yet,” Cleveland said. “The practices have been really fun just because it’s something new, but if you ask me that question after this week, I’ll be able to give you a better answer.”
For now, there’s no official word of the plan in the likely scenario that Little won’t be ready to play Sunday against the Cleveland Browns.
“There’s a number of different contingency plans that we could possibly get into based on what gives us the best possibility to go play well,” offensive coordinator Press Taylor said Thursday. “[Cleveland at left tackle] could be one of our options.”
It makes no difference to Cleveland, though.
“I’ve always kinda been a team player and I’ll play wherever I’m needed,” Cleveland said. “I was a left tackle, I played right guard my rookie year. I’ll play wherever. Just wherever the team needs me, I’ll try to do my best.”
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