Jaguars Leonard Fournette Ruled out for Game Against Kansas City
By David Levin
The Jacksonville Jaguars have already announced that running back Leonard Fournette will not play Sunday when the team travels to face the Kansas City Chiefs.
It’s hard enough to beat the Kansas City Chiefs in their own back yard, but things just got a little tougher for the Jacksonville Jaguars. It’s not even the final day of practice and the team has already declared running back Leonard Fournette out of action for this weekend’s matchup.
The announcement was made by head coach Doug Marrone when he met with the media Wednesday prior to practice at TIAA Bank Field. Fournette is still dealing with a hamstring injury that he reaggravated on Sunday in the 31-12 win over the New York Jets.
Per Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com, “Marrone also ruled out nickelback D.J. Hayden with a toe injury.”
T.J. Yeldon will once again be called upon to lead the Jaguars rushing attack. Corey Grant will serve as the backup. This is the third game Fournette has missed this season with the hamstring issue. He missed time in the first game of the season as well as the second half of this past week.
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This is an injury that could mean Fournette misses significant time away from the field. It was reported this week, per DiRocco, the Jaguars did work out free agent running backs to potentially fill an open roster spot if the team decided to make concerning Fournette’s health.
Yeldon has become the bell cow back for the team this season. He ran 18 times for 52 yards and a touchdown and caught three passes for 48 yards and another touchdown against the Jets. Grant had five carries for 5 yards and two catches for 12 yards.
While Marrone has stated he would use or two backs is he had to prior to the team’s game against the New England Patriots, at some point I would think the team needs to decide if Fournette needs significant time to heal.
Hamstring injuries are odd in they take time and the slightest twitch could aggravate the area again. Yes, this is speaking from experience.
Next. Where are the Jaguars Ranked by NFL.com?. dark
After leading the league last season in rushing, the Jaguars are currently 13th in the league with 113.5 yards per contest. Because of the lack of production on the ground, Jacksonville has put the ball in the air more.
Quarterback Blake Bortles has seven touchdowns and three interceptions this season. The team is 15th in the NFL in passing offense with 266.5 yards a game.