As expected, the Jacksonville Jaguars placed center Brandon Linder on injured reserve Tuesday after the veteran was carted off from Sunday’s game against Tennessee with MCL and ankle injuries. With him set to miss four to five weeks, they also replaced his spot on the active roster by adding veteran Rashaad Coward.
Coward, 26, is currently in his sixth season as he joins the Jags and entered the league as an undrafted free agent with the Chicago Bears in 2017 out of Old Dominion. He spent training camp and the first four weeks of this regular season with the Pittsburgh Steelers but didn’t see any action as a regular season member of their roster.
However, during his tenure with the Bears (2017-20), Coward played in 30 games and started in 15. While in Chicago last season, he appeared in all 16 games and made three starts at guard and two at tackle. As for 2019, he registered a career-high in starts (10), all of which came at guard.
As previously mentioned, the Jags had the potential to go into Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins short-handed on the offensive line with Linder injured and Tyler Shatley now starting in his place. That’s likely why they elected not to give former Texans receiver Anthony Miller an active roster spot out of the gate.
Now, with Coward on the roster, the Jags have eight offensive linemen to head into Sunday’s game with.