Evan Engram, whose shoulder injury has ended his season, joins a slew of offensive players whom Jacksonville has lost.
Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Evan Engram saw his season come to an abrupt end in Week 14.
Engram injured his labrum during
a 10-6 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Dec. 8. Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson announced on Friday that Engram needs surgery and will miss the rest of the season.
“Next man up,” Pederson
told reporters on Friday. “That’s what you have to do. You just got to rally and have that next-man-up mentality.”
Engram had a solid season going with
47 catches for 365 yards and a touchdown. He’s the latest of a slew of injured offensive players for the Jaguars (3-10), a team that had playoff aspirations in 2024 after a 9-8 season in 2023.
Jacksonville previously lost quarterback Trevor Lawrence to a shoulder injury and concussion against the Houston Texans on Dec. 1. Lawrence had
2,045 yards passing for 11 touchdowns versus seven interceptions.
The Jaguars also lost wide receivers Christian Kirk and Gabe Davis to injuries. Kirk went down against the Green Bay Packers with a collarbone injury that halted his season of
27 catches for 379 yards and a touchdown. Davis sustained a knee injury against the Detroit Lions on Nov. 27, and at that point he had
20 receptions for 239 yards and two touchdowns.
“It’s tough,” Pederson acknowledged. “It’s unfortunate. Can’t make excuses for it, it’s part of the game, but it’s a great opportunity for the next guy.”
“Football is a tough sport. It’s a violent sport and injuries are going to happen. The guys play tough and physical, and they play hard,” Pederson continued. “That’s what I ask and that’s what they do. They put their bodies on the line every single week and stuff like this happens.”
Even before the injuries piled up, Jacksonville
never got on track this season, starting with four consecutive losses. The Jaguars showed some life around midseason with a 2-1 mark, defeating the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots.
Things went south again as the Jaguars lost one-score games to the Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, and Houston Texans. The loss to the Lions marked the worst in franchise history, 52-6.
Looking to build for next season, Pederson can get a look at backup tight ends in place of Engram. That crew is Brenton Strange, Luke Farrell, and Josiah Deguara.
Strange, in his second year from Penn State, has
23 receptions for 256 yards and two touchdowns. The Jaguars selected Strange in the second round in the 2023 draft, but he played sparingly in 14 games with five receptions for 35 yards and a touchdown.
“We’ve been pleased with Brenton—excited about Brenton, really,” Pederson said. “He has done a nice job for us, and this will be a great opportunity for him to really showcase himself a little bit within our offense.”
Farrell, a former fifth-round pick, has been with the Jaguars since 2021, but he has seen limited action on offense
in 61 games played. The former Ohio State standout has just 33 receptions for 306 yards in his career, and he has yet to score a touchdown.
“Another opportunity for Luke as well to get more of an opportunity in these last four games—and Josiah, too,” Pederson added.
A member of the Jaguars since March, when he signed as a free agent, Deguara has appeared in 11 games this season with just
two catches for 10 yards. Deguara spent the past four seasons with Green Bay, which took him with a third-round pick out of Cincinnati in 2020. He has 49 catches for 446 yards and two touchdowns in his career.
