Tag: D’Ernest Johnson

Jaguars re-signing RB D’Ernest Johnson to another 1-year deal

The Jaguars are keeping their running back room in tact by bringing back D’Ernest Johnson.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are bringing back running back D’Ernest Johnson on another one-year contract, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

With Johnson set to return to a running back room that has starter Travis Etienne Jr. and 2023 third-round pick Tank Bigsby, it seems like the position group will look very similar, if not identical, during the 2024 season.

Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke has drafted a running back every year, though.

The Jaguars carried four running backs into the regular season last year, but waived JaMycal Hasty in November.

Johnson finished his first season in Jacksonville with 108 rushing yards and 110 receiving yards on 51 total touches. As a whole, the Jaguars ranked 30th in the NFL in rushing yards per attempt, although they’ll hope newly signed center Mitch Morse can play a factor in bolstering the ground attack.

Prior to joining the Jaguars, Johnson played four seasons with the Cleveland Browns, averaging 5.2 yards per carry during his tenure with the team.

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1 pending free agent Chargers should target: AFC South Edition

Listing one free agent from the Texans, Titans, Colts and Jaguars who could be a fit for the Chargers.

The Chargers won’t be aggressive when it comes to signing free agents.

General manager Joe Hortiz will make some moves to have some spendings available to them so they can sign some.

That said, I will list one pending free agent from each NFL team who could be a realistic target for L.A.

Next up is the AFC South.

Jaguars activate returner Jamal Agnew from injured reserve

Jamal Agnew is set to make his return to the Jaguars’ lineup after missing four games on injured reserve.

Jacksonville Jaguars return specialist and wide receiver Jamal Agnew is set to make his return to the lineup Sunday night after getting activated from the injured reserve Saturday.

Agnew landed on IR in November after suffering a shoulder injury on a return. The veteran missed the minimum amount of games required by IR rules and will presumably take back punt return duties from rookie Parker Washington and kickoff return duties from running back D’Ernest Johnson.

The question is how involved Agnew will be on offense with Christian Kirk now on injured reserve. Washington has stepped up as the team’s slot receiver and will likely continue to see time in that role.

Agnew earned Pro Bowl honors as a returner last season and All-Pro honors in his rookie season with the Detroit Lions. He is averaging 10.6 yards per punt return and 27.7 yards per kickoff return so far this year. Agnew has also contributed nine receptions on offense for 90 yards.

The Jaguars released quarterback Nathan Rourke to make room for Agnew on the 53-man roster.

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Jaguars list 12 players on lengthy Wednesday injury report

The Jaguars suddenly have a lengthy injury report after a rough Monday night.

A Jacksonville Jaguars team that has been fortunate to avoid injuries for nearly two whole seasons is suddenly facing an avalanche of them heading into Week 14.

On Wednesday, the Jaguars listed 12 players on their first injury report before a road game against the Cleveland Browns.

Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence suffered what looked like a gruesome ankle injury Monday night, but said Wednesday that he’s feeling “a lot better” and he’s “trying to progress towards hopefully playing” against the Browns.

Backup quarterback C.J. Beathard is also on the injury report, but said that there’s no concern about his availability Sunday.

While Jacksonville has a lengthy report, the Browns’ was even longer Wednesday with 16 players listed.

Three of the Browns’ players who didn’t practice were “not injury related” rest days and offensive lineman Geron Christian practiced in full, but that still leaves another 12 who were out or limited. That group included receiver Amari Cooper who was out due to a concussion and ribs injury.

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Studs and duds in Jaguars’ 34-14 win vs. Titans in Week 11

Just about everything went right for the Jaguars in their 20-point win Sunday.

Just about everything went right for the Jacksonville Jaguars in their 34-14 win against the Tennessee Titans in Week 11.

The offense cruised down the field on several lengthy drives, cashing in four touchdowns and two field goals. The Jaguars defense pitched a shutout until the final play of the third quarter, holding Derrick Henry to just 38 rushing yards on the day.

It was a win Jacksonville absolutely had to have after a blowout loss to the San Francisco 49ers at home in Week 10. But beyond improving to 7-3, it was also the offensive rhythm and return to form on defense that bodes well for the Jaguars as they approach the home stretch of the season.

These are the players who stood out most for the Jaguars’ in their much-needed 20-point win at EverBank Stadium on Sunday:

Travis Etienne defends Tank Bigsby: ‘I was in that same situation’

Travis Etienne still thinks rookie running back Tank Bigsby has a bright future ahead.

Tank Bigsby’s rookie year hasn’t gone as planned. While the Jacksonville Jaguars’ third round pick scored two touchdowns in his first three games, he was also directly responsible for two turnovers in his NFL debut.

Those ball security issues haven’t gone away. Bigsby fumbled against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 8 and a ball bounced off his hands for an interception last week against the San Francisco 49ers. There may have been a little too much heat on the throw from Trevor Lawrence, but Bigsby hasn’t done much to earn the benefit of the doubt.

Travis Etienne Jr. is still convinced Bigsby has a bright future, though.

“I feel like I was in that same situation last year,” Etienne said Monday. “You just have to weather the storm. In the NFL, I learned last year that you can’t get too high and you can’t get too low. It’s a week-to-week thing, all you got to do is go out there and make a play and nobody is even worried about Tank missing the ball.

“Just get out of his head, block out the outside noise and just be who he is. We all know Tank is a talented kid and we all know he’s a great football player. He’s just got to go out there and just show that and be himself.”

Etienne missed his entire rookie season due to a Lisfranc injury. In his first actual year on the field, the 2021 first-round pick fumbled five times, second most in the NFL among running backs.

This season, Etienne has 189 touches, third most in the NFL through 10 weeks, and hasn’t fumbled once.

Bigsby, 22, has just 27 touches so far (26 rushing attempts, one reception), but has fumbled twice and had two passes bounce off his hands for interceptions. The question now is whether he’ll get a chance, as Etienne said, to “weather the storm” in the last eight weeks of the season.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the rookie is more or less shelved while D’Ernest Johnson gets more touches as the reliever for Etienne. The former Cleveland Browns running back, who was signed by the Jaguars as a free agent earlier this year, made the most of his five touches in Week 10, producing 40 yards from scrimmage.

Bigsby may require patience and reps to develop into a player the Jaguars can rely upon. That might not be a luxury the Jaguars can afford while in the midst of a playoff race.

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Jamal Agnew shoulder injury ‘doesn’t look promising’ for Week 11

Doug Pederson doesn’t like Jamal Agnew’s chances at playing Sunday against the Titans.

Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson doesn’t like return specialist Jamal Agnew’s chances at playing Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.

“Jamal fell on his shoulder in the game [vs. the San Francisco 49ers], so he’s got a little shoulder issue going on,” Pederson said Monday. “There’s a potential that as the week progresses, we’ll see where he’s at. But it doesn’t look promising right now on a Monday. We’ll see where he is during the course of the week.”

Agnew, 28, was injured on a first quarter kickoff return and was initially ruled questionable, but never came back into the game. Running back D’Ernest Johnson returned kicks for the remainder of the game and wide receiver Christian Kirk returned punts.

The Jaguars began the year with rookie Parker Washington listed as the backup returner, but the sixth-round pick landed on injured reserve after suffering a knee injury in his NFL debut. Since then, Agnew has been the sole returner listed on the depth chart.

It’s unclear for now if the Jaguars would stick with the combination of Johnson and Kirk if Agnew is unavailable Sunday against the Titans.

Agnew has averaged 27.7 yards on seven kick returns this season and 10.6 yards per punt return.

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NFL trade deadline: 5 Browns trade targets on bad teams

Could the Browns look to be aggressive at the deadline?

The Cleveland Browns sit at 4-2 on the season, but it has not been pretty over the last two games. You know what they say though, good teams find ways to win ugly, and the Browns have certainly done that over the last two weeks. Nearing the NFL trade deadline, however, could the team look to make a move or two to upgrade their roster? Names like defensive linemen Denico Autry and wide receiver Jerry Jeudy fit their systems like a glove and could be on the move.

While the Browns could also be looking to make moves to ship off players like wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones as they are expected to be both buyers and sellers, the emphasis must be on improving their roster, especially on the offensive side of the football.

Keeping it relatively realistic, here are five NFL trade deadline targets that fit what the Browns do on both sides of the ball.

5 Jaguars players most likely to get moved at the 2023 trade deadline

The Jaguars won’t be big sellers at the trade deadline, but there are a few players on the roster that the team might not mind moving.

There’s no reason for the Jacksonville Jaguars to be sellers before the NFL’s Oct. 31 trade deadline.

Still, if a team comes calling it never hurts to listen. And while the Jaguars won’t be interested in parting with any players who could play an integral role in the team making a postseason run, there are a few players on the roster who they could do just fine without.

It’s unlikely that Jacksonville will want to part with players from its AFC South-leading roster. But if the team does make a deal that sends someone elsewhere, here are five Jaguars players who are the most likely to get traded ahead of the deadline:

Doug Pederson: ‘We’ve got to be mindful’ of Travis Etienne’s workload

Doug Pederson says the Jaguars have to get their other running backs more involved in the offense.

A few days after Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor said Travis Etienne Jr hasn’t shown any signs he can’t handle his league-leading workload and the team will “continue to give the ball to our best players at all times,” head coach Doug Pederson delivered a different message Friday.

“Travis is a tough kid, we’ve seen that over the course of last year for the start of this year,” Pederson said. “We’ve got to be mindful that we’re not over working him, we’ve got to get Tank [Bigsby] and D’Ernest [Johnson] and if JaMycal [Hasty] is up, we’ve got to get those guys involved in the offense and get them some more touches.

“Right now, especially on third down, we like [Etienne] on third down, not only from a protection standpoint, but the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. We just got to keep the other guys coming. It’s not that we don’t have confidence in them, but we just feel like [Etienne] has the hot hand and we continue to keep him going. We’re definitely mindful of the wear-and-tear on his body as we go.”

Etienne, 24, has an NFL-most 151 touches (127 carries and 24 receptions) through the Jaguars’ first seven games. That’s 18 more than the 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey and 19 more than Raiders’ Josh Jacobs who haven’t yet played in Week 7.

In Week 1, the Jaguars gave Bigsby seven carries and threw him the ball once. The rookie hasn’t had more than four touches in any of the Jaguars’ six games since. Johnson has only 10 touches this season and Hasty is still at zero.

Etienne has made the most of his increased workload, recording seven touchdowns in as many games, including six in the last three weeks.

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