Tag: Blake Hance

Jaguars sign veteran OL Blake Hance to contract extension

The Jaguars kept one of their veteran offensive linemen from hitting the free agency market.

The Jacksonville Jaguars signed veteran offensive lineman Blake Hance to a contract extension, the team announced Monday morning.

Hance, 28, first joined the Jaguars in 2019 as a member of the practice squad, but was waived in 2020. After stints with the New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, and San Francisco 49ers, he made his return to Jacksonville when he was claimed off waivers by the Jaguars in November 2022.

He was active for nine games in the remainder of the 2022 season and was active for all 17 of the Jaguars’ games in 2023. Hance was called into action a few times due to injuries, stepping in at right guard during a Week 6 game against the Indianapolis Colts and left tackle a few times later in the year.

Despite his winding path to Jacksonville, Hance was set to be a restricted free agent this spring as a player with only three accrued NFL seasons. Now he’s set to stay and provide depth for the Jaguars moving forward.

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Jaguars PFF grades: Best and worst performers vs. Browns in Week 14

Strong performances by a few Jaguars players were overshadowed by mistakes and miscues.

The Jacksonville Jaguars simply made too many mistakes to beat the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.

In the 31-27 loss, the Jaguars turned the ball over four times and punted seven times. While the defense gave up several big plays and nearly 400 yards of total offense, it also forced three turnovers and eight Cleveland punts.

Were the three interceptions thrown by Trevor Lawrence all the fault of the 24-year-old quarterback? His last certainly looked like a misread, but the first two seemed to be a disconnect between Lawrence and his veteran receivers Calvin Ridley and Zay Jones.

At Pro Football Focus, they graded every Jaguars player in the Week 14 game. Here’s who PFF thought stood out most, both positively and negatively, in the Jacksonville loss:

Brandon Scherff questionable to return with ankle injury

Brandon Scherff was evaluated in the medical tent before heading to the locker room with an ankle injury.

Jacksonville Jaguars right guard Brandon Scherff suffered an ankle injury in a Week 6 game against the Indianapolis Colts and left to the locker room after being evaluated in the medical tent on the sideline.

Scherff, 31, returned to the sideline before halftime, but didn’t re-enter the game before the end of the second quarter. The Jaguars announced Scherff is questionable to return.

The veteran guard suffered an ankle injury in the Jaguars’ Week 1 win against the Colts and was carted to the locker room. Scherff briefly returned to the game, but was ruled out for the remainder after only a few plays.

The former Washington Commanders offensive lineman joined the Jaguars during the 2022 offseason and has been a team captain in each of his two seasons with the team. He hasn’t missed a game since joining Jacksonville.

With Scherff out of action, veteran offensive lineman Blake Hance entered the game at guard. Hance joined the Jaguars during the 2022 season and has played in 39 career games. The team also has former starting left guard Ben Bartch on the roster.

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Jaguars move rookie OL Cooper Hodges to injured reserve

Cooper Hodges is eligible to come off the Jaguars injured reserve any time after the team’s Week 4 game.

Jacksonville Jaguars rookie offensive lineman Cooper Hodges will miss at least four games after getting moved to the injured reserve Thursday.

Hodges, 23, suffered a patella injury in the Jaguars’ second preseason game and has been sidelined during his recovery. If the team put the rookie on the injured reserve prior to Wednesday, it would’ve ended his 2023 season. Instead, the lineman is now eligible to return any time after Jacksonville’s Week 4 game against the Atlanta Falcons.

Prior to the injury, Hodges was impressing in training camp with offensive coordinator Press Taylor praising the rookie for the physicality and energy he brought to the practice field. After a strong preseason debut against the Dallas Cowboys, Hodges told reporters that it proved to him that “definitely belongs here.”

The decision to put Hodges on the injured reserve opened room on the roster for veteran lineman Blake Hance to return to the Jaguars. After swapping in Hance for Hodges, Jacksonville still has eight offensive linemen on the active roster.

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Jaguars bring back OL Blake Hance two days after release

Two days after Blake Hance was cut by the team, the Jaguars re-signed the veteran offensive lineman Thursday.

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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5 Jaguars bubble players who have earned a roster spot

These five Jaguars players were on the bubble at the beginning of camp, but secured their place on the 53-man roster with a strong August.

The Jacksonville Jaguars didn’t have a ton of roster turnover during the 2023 offseason. The team kept 21 of its 22 starters, allowing only offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor to leave in free agency.

Even backups like C.J. Beathard, JaMycal Hasty, Adam Gotsis, and others were brought back. That left very little room for newcomers and other bubble players to earn spots on one of the NFL’s deeper rosters.

These five Jaguars players entered August seemingly in a fight for a place on the team’s 53-man roster. But with cutdown day coming Tuesday they now have little to worry about after securing their spots in camp and preseason:

Jaguars activate G Ben Bartch from PUP list

Ben Bartch is back on the Jaguars’ active roster 10 months after a knee injury ended his 2022 season.

Jacksonville Jaguars guard Ben Bartch is back on the team’s active roster after beginning training camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list, the team announced Monday.

Bartch, 25, earned the starting left guard job in camp last year, but suffered a season-ending knee injury in October. Veteran Tyler Shatley took over starting duties for the remainder of the season.

With both Bartch and Shatley temporarily out of action in camp, Blake Hance is currently listed as the Jaguars’ starting left guard on the first unofficial depth chart of the year.

Bartch was selected by the Jaguars in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL draft and has played multiple spots on the offensive line during his three seasons with the team. Bartch is currently due to become a free agent after the 2023 season.

Jacksonville has two preseason games left before a regular season opener against the Indianapolis Colts on Sept. 10.

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5 takeaways from Jaguars’ first unofficial depth chart

The Jaguars’ first depth chart of the year shows coaches are impressed with rookie Tank Bigsby.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are just a few days from their preseason opener against the Dallas Cowboys and released an unofficial depth chart ahead of the matchup.

Some of it has been affected by injuries, though. For example, former starting left guard Ben Bartch off the depth chart entirely while on the PUP list. Tyler Shatley took over starting duties last season following Bartch’s season-ending injury, but Shatley is at the bottom of the chart while recovering from an irregular heartbeat.

Still, there are some decisions from the coaching staff that jump off the page in the first depth chart. Here are five takeaways:

Jaguars 2023 roster review: OL Blake Hance

Blake Hance is hoping to stick around with the Jaguars after bouncing between six different rosters early in his career.

The brunt of the offseason is in the books and training camp is coming soon. Join us in the NFL’s dead zone with a player-by-player review of the Jaguars roster ahead of the 2023 season.

Blake Hance is no stranger to battling for an NFL roster spot. Prior to joining the Jacksonville Jaguars during the 2022 season, the veteran guard made stops with six teams, including a prior one-year stint with the Jaguars from September 2019 to September 2020.

Among those stops was a season with the Cleveland Browns in 2021 where he made eight starts.

Otherwise, Hance has spent his career on practice squads and sidelines. After getting claimed by the Jaguars in November, he took 27 offensive snaps and 44 on special teams in the remainder of the year.

Contract (2023): $940,000 base salary, $940,000 cap hit.

Acquired: The Jaguars claimed Hance off waivers from the San Francisco 49ers on Nov. 1, 2022.

PFF grades:

  • 48.7 (2022 – JAX/SF)
  • 56.7 (2021 – CLE)
  • 47.7 (2020 – CLE)

Quote: “You gotta prepare like a starter even when you’re a backup, because as we’ve seen too often, things can change quickly.” – Hance

Calvin Ridley (No. 0) Travis Etienne Jr. (No. 1) Rayshawn Jenkins (No. 2) C.J. Beathard (No. 3) Tank Bigsby (No. 4) Andre Cisco (No. 5)
Chris Claybrooks (No. 6) Zay Jones (No. 7) Logan Cooke (No. 9) Parker Washington (No. 11) James McCourt (No. 12) Christian Kirk (No. 13)
Kendric Pryor (No. 14) Tim Jones (No. 15) Trevor Lawrence (No. 16) Evan Engram (No. 17) Nathan Rourke (No. 18) Sammis Reyes (No. 19)
Daniel Thomas (No. 20) Latavious Brini (No. 21) JaMycal Hasty (No. 22) Foyesade Oluokun (No. 23) Snoop Conner (No. 24) D’Ernest Johnson (No. 25)
Antonio Johnson (No. 26) Divaad Wilson (No. 27) Tevaughn Campbell (No. 29) Montaric Brown (No. 30) Darious Williams (No. 31) Tyson Campbell (No. 32)
Devin Lloyd (No. 33) Gregory Junior (No. 34) Ayo Oyelola (No. 35) Christian Braswell (No. 36) Tre Herndon (No. 37) Qadree Ollison (No. 38)
Jamal Agnew (No. 39) Erick Hallett (No. 40) Josh Allen (No. 41) Andrew Wingard (No. 42) Kaleb Hayes (No. 43) Derek Parish (No. 43)
Travon Walker (No. 44) K’Lavon Chaisson (No. 45) Ross Matiscik (No. 46) De’Shaan Dixon (No. 47) Chad Muma (No. 48) Shaquille Quarterman (No. 50)
Ventrell Miller (No. 51) DaVon Hamilton (No. 52) Willie Taylor III (No. 53) DJ Coleman (No. 54) Dequan Jackson (No. 55) Yasir Abdullah (No. 56)
Caleb Johnson (No. 57) Raymond Vohasek (No. 59) Darryl Williams (No. 60) Samuel Jackson (No. 62) Coy Cronk (No. 64) Chandler Brewer (No. 67)
Brandon Scherff (No. 68) Tyler Shatley (No. 69) Cole Van Lanen (No. 70) Walker Little (No. 72) Blake Hance (No. 73) Cam Robinson (No. 74)
Cooper Hodges (No. 75) Anton Harrison (No. 76) Josh Wells (No. 77) Ben Bartch (No. 78) Luke Fortner (No. 79) Kevin Austin Jr. (No. 80)
Seth Williams (No. 81) Elijah Cooks (No. 84) Brenton Strange (No. 85) Gerrit Prince (No. 86) Jaray Jenkins (No. 87) Oliver Martin (No. 88)
Luke Farrell (No. 89) Henry Mondeaux (No. 90) Dawuane Smoot (No. 91) Jordan Smith (No. 92) Tyler Lacy (No. 93) Folorunso Fatukasi (No. 94)
Roy Robertson-Harris (No. 95) Adam Gotsis (No. 96) Michael Dogbe (No. 98) Jeremiah Ledbetter (No. 99) Brandon McManus Jacob Harris
Josh Pederson

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62 days until Browns season opener: Siaki Ika and 5 players to wear 62 in Cleveland

We are quickly approaching the two months remaining point of the countdown.

We are quickly approaching the two months remaining of the countdown to Cleveland Browns football. Some history about the number 62 in Cleveland, it has been worn by 25 different players with Cliff Lewis being the first back in 1946. Third round pick defensive tackle Siaki Ika will wear that number for the Browns this season as he is a lock to make the roster.

The most recent player to wear it during the regular season by Blake Hance from 2020-2022 before leaving Cleveland this off-season. Let’s take a trip through team history with five players that have worn the number 62 for your Browns during the regular season.