Defensive end Travon Walker has turned into a key cog on defense, so the Jacksonville Jaguars surely held their breath when they saw him leave the San Francisco 49ers game with a wrist injury.
Walker was one of a handful of players who left the Week 4 game. He didn't return for the eventual 26-21 win, showing that the injury was serious. One day later, an NFL insider has provided a crucial update.
The Jaguars will be without Travon Walker for a while
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that Travon Walker is scheduled to see a specialist to determine the severity of the wrist injury he suffered in Week 4, noting that it's not considered season-ending.
Until further updates, it's just hard to tell how serious the injury is, though. After all, not season-ending could mean several things. It could be a four-to-six game absence, or perhaps the former Georgia Bulldog may not return until Week 16. Either way, losing Walker is a blow to a dominant Jacksonville pass rush.
Sure, the Jags have Josh Hines-Allen in the fold, but Walker was coming into his own, logging 10 sacks each of the past two seasons. In 2025, he had made four starts and registered two sacks.
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How will the Jaguars replace Travon Walker?
Travon Walker is a staple of the defensive line, but the coaching staff will try to replace him with a combination of Emmanuel Ogbah and Dawuane Smoot. The duo signed with the Jags in the offseason, and both of them have taken on a rotational role behind Walker and Josh Hines-Allen.
With Walker out of the mix for the foreseeable future, Ogbah and Smoot will have an expanded role. Similarly, undrafted rookies B.J. Green and Danny Striggow will probably see an uptick in snaps.
While Green and Striggow made the 53-man roster, they have been inactives for the most part. The former suited up against the 49ers but only logged one snap. That may change after the Walker injury.
Aside from having pass rushers ready to step up during Walker's absence, the silver lining is that the Jaguars have enough talent in all three levels of the defense to make up for it. Cornerback Jourdan Lewis and safety Eric Murray have turned out to be excellent free-agent pickups. Ditto linebacker Dennis Gardeck.
The bottom line is that losing Travon Walker stings, but the show must go on, and the Jaguars are in a position to withstand his injury regardless of how long it is.