Jacksonville Jaguars
Jaguars WR Allen Hurns likely to miss Browns game
The Jaguars have been very cautious with rookie wide receiver Dede Westbrook of late, opting each of the past two weeks to keep him on injured reserve out of fear they might be asking him to come back from his core muscle injury too soon.
The time may have come, though, for the Jaguars to throw caution to the wind.
A right ankle injury he suffered in the Jaguars victory over the Chargers on Sunday is expected to keep slot receiver Allen Hurns out of the lineup for Jacksonville’s game against the Browns this week, and that could prompt the Jaguars to finally activate Westbrook.
“Yeah, I don’t anticipate him playing this week,’’ Jaguars coach Doug Marrone said on Monday. “I would say yes (in terms of him missing this week), but I wouldn’t know (about his availability) after that.’’
Hurns ranks second among Jaguars pass catchers in receptions with 36 and receiving yards with 446 and is tied for first on the team with two touchdown receptions, but he may not be the only receiver who to sit out the Browns game.
The Jaguars are already missing top wideout Allen Robinson and there’s a chance they could also be without backup and special teams ace Arrelious Benn, who was knocked out of the Chargers game with a knee injury.
The Jaguars would also have the option of turning to Jaelen Strong, but Strong hasn’t been active since he was claimed off waivers from the Texans as the beginning of the year. As for Westbrook, Marrone has made it clear the timing has to be right.
“We’re waiting for him to be ready to go at the level where we think he can get on the field and help us,” Marrone said last week. “Right now, he’s just not ready.
“We don’t want to bring him back too early if he’s not ready, and right now we have time on our side as far as when we to make that move with him. A lot of it is up to how he does (in practice).’’
One of the key free-agent questions for the Jaguars continues to be whether or not they’re going to allow their best pass rusher, Yannick Ngakoue, to test the free-agent market coming up? And, once again, the player may be giving a clue that he’s going to do just that.
Ngakoue tweeted Wednesday morning the following phrase, which seems to indicate, yet again, that he will be playing somewhere else in 2020:
Next Stop……..
— Yannick Ngakoue (@YannickNgakoue) February 26, 2020
This goes along with something that we wrote earlier in January. That’s when just a couple of days after the season Ngakoue posted essentially a goodbye message to Jaguar fans. This came on the heels of him having held out for a new contract for the first few days of training camp last August, but not receiving a new deal during the season, etc.
Ngakoue, whose 37.5 career sacks are the most by a Jaguars player after 63 career games, is sure to be a sought-after player from many different teams. GM Dave Caldwell said at the end of the season when asked about re-sgning his star pass rusher, “He is a tremendous player and even a better person. How he handled his business this year was tremendous. But, I would say that’s priority No. 1, to make sure he comes back to Jacksonville. Hopefully, we can get that done. ″
It’s also worth noting that at Tuesday’s NFL Scouting Combine at media availability in Indianapolis, coach Doug Marrone repeated that he wants Ngakoue to remain in Jaguars teal and white:
Doug Marrone: ‘’No doubt where I stand or the coaches.”
—They want Yannick Ngakoue back. pic.twitter.com/vOorH4hH95— John Reid (@JohnReid64) February 26, 2020
However, it remains to be seen if Marrone and Caldwell are willing to “pony up” huge money for him or even potentially, put the franchise tag on him before free agency begins next month?
Ngakoue figures to want a contract close to what the top ends are getting paid right now. Demarcus Lawrence and Frank Clark both signed five-year, over $100 million deals in 2019 and received guaranteed money that exceeded $62 million. That is massive for Jacksonville.
If the Jags opt for the “franchise tag,” then the talented end will be making around $19 million dollars, which is the current average of the top five players at his position. The Jaguars could also put the tag on him and then work on a longer term, salary cap friendly, deal that would replace the tag later in the off season.
At Tuesday’s media session at the NFL Scouting Combine, Jaguars GM Dave Caldwell made official what had been rumored for the last couple of days regarding defensive tackle Marcell Dareus: he will not be brought back for a fourth season in Jacksonville.
Caldwell confirmed the Jaguars are not picking up DT Marcell Dareus' option.
— John Reid (@JohnReid64) February 25, 2020
Dareus only played briefly in 2019, as he suffered a core muscle injury that sidelined him after only six games and he was placed on injured reserve. The former number one pick of the Buffalo Bills had played for coach Doug Marrone for a couple of seasons in Western New York.
Marrone and Caldwell traded for Dareus during the 2017 season and he helped them with their rise to the AFC South title and two playoff wins. This included Darius registering two sacks and four other tackles-for-loss in the Jaguars three playoff games that year.
Dareus made the Pro Bowl twice in Buffalo in 2013-14.
However, he has not lived up to his hefty contract that was reworked Jacksonville last February. Last season, Dareus made over $8 million dollars and the team would have been on the hook for $20 million this year had they picked up the option. That obviously wasn’t going to happen.
Dareus also has had legal troubles off the field, including a civil suit against him in Tampa for alleged sexual misconduct. As we wrote previously, a woman alleged that Dareus had sexually assaulted her in January of 2018 at a North Tampa Florida home, while Dareus was in town for the Alabama-Clemson College Football Playoff Championship Game.
However, that suit filed in Hillsborough County court was “dismissed with prejudice” last April, which means it cannot be re-filed.
Dareus, if healthy after the core muscle injury rehab, may have some value as a defensive tackle on the free agent market.
As for the Jaguars, they have former #1 pick defensive tackle Taven Bryan to play more in the middle and are trying to decide if free agent-to-be, DE Yannick Ngakoue, can be afforded for their 2020 salary cap?