The Jacksonville Jaguars are looking to end a two-game losing streak when they face the Minnesota Vikings in Week 10. While they'll have their work cut out to come out on top, especially if Trevor Lawrence misses the game, they could have an edge on special teams.
Heading into the game, Minnesota placed rookie kicker Will Reichard on Injured Reserve after suffering a groin injury in Week 9, effectively keeping him out of action for at least four weeks. To replace him, the Vikings signed John Parker Romo.
An undrafted free agent in 2022, Parker Romo has spent time with the Detroit Lions, and the New Orleans Saints but has never suited up for a game in the regular season. He also had a brief stint with the Vikings in the offseason before being released in July.
On the other hand, Romo earned experience in the XFL playing for the San Antonio Brahmas last year. He appeared in 10 games and went 17-of-19 in his attempts. He made three kicks from 50 yards out and two of them were successful.
Like Jaguars kicker Cam Little, Will Reichard was selected in the sixth round of this year's draft and has given his team immediate stability at the kicker position.
Why the Jaguars could have an edge with Will Reichard out for Week 10
The Minnesota Vikings are currently a 7.0-point favorite in Week 10, so the Jacksonville Jaguars will need all the help they can get to pull off the upset.
The Jags took things down to the wire the past two games. Although they ended up losing, they might've beaten the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles in Weeks 9 and 10, respectively, if a couple plays had gone their way. That's what could probably happen against the Minnesota Vikings because of their kicker situation.
John Parker Romo could turn out to be a solid replacement for Will Reichard but he's currently an unproven commodity. Although he has XFL experience, he's not yet shown he can deliver in the NFL. And that's the thing, the Virginia Tech product spent time with several teams but hasn't done enough to get a chance until now. Maybe he'll do fine but there's another chance he could make a game-changing mistake.
Whether it's a missed field goal or a bad kickoff, the Jaguars will waste no time capitalizing on a special teams mistake. Return specialist Devin Duvernay was activated from Injured Reserve, and if he suits up for the game, he'll give Jacksonville a spark.
For the sake of argument, let's say the game is competitive and Parker Romo misses a field goal late in the game, that could turn out to be the difference between winning and losing.
The bottom line is that the Jacksonville Jaguars might have an edge in Week 10 with John Parker Romo handling kicks. It might not be a big one but they'll take it if that gives them a better chance of coming out on top.