The Jacksonville Jaguars brought back offensive lineman Blake Hance on Thursday, signing him to the active roster two days after releasing him Tuesday.
Hance, 27, spent time with six teams, including a brief stint with the Jaguars in 2019 and 2020, before returning to Jacksonville in November 2022. He appeared in nine regular season games with the Jaguars a year ago and appears primed to be a swing tackle for the team in 2023.
“Hance is probably that guy,” Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said last week when asked who would be the swing tackle. “We got to see where [Ben] Bartch and [Tyler] Shatley pan out, see where Josh [Wells] is at with his health. Right now, if this were Week 1, it would be Blake.”
While Bartch and Shatley have been cleared to participate fully in practices and games, the Jaguars placed Wells on the injured reserve Tuesday.
Ultimately, the decision to release Hance was just a procedural move to keep rookie Cooper Hodges on the roster Tuesday so the seventh-round pick could be placed on the temporary injured reserve Tuesday.
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