The Jacksonville Jaguars suffered a massive blow when they lost tight end Evan Engram to a season-ending injury. The silver lining is that they have a more than capable replacement in Brenton Strange, who's made the most out of his opportunities this season. Having said that, an injury is forcing the Jags to take a precautionary approach ahead of their Week 16 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Head coach Doug Pederson met with the local media Wednesday and said that Strange suffered an AC sprain, adding that he'll be limited in practice but should be good to go against the Raiders.
"Brenton AC spring coming out of the game, just be a little bit limited," Pederson said. "He'll be fine."
Strange, a second-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, made his seventh start of the season against the New York Jets. All things considered, he did a fine job of filling in for Engram, who suffered a shoulder sprain a game prior and underwent season-ending surgery.
Later in his exchange with the media, Pederson praised Strange for his willingness to finish the season strong when told that the young tight end is already focused on the next game after the loss to the New York Jets.
"I think it can go one of two ways, right? If the players don't have that mindset, or if I don't have that mindset, it's going to set you back even further. But if you come into it and you embrace it," Pederson said. "We know our situation. We got it, we understand that. But I think these next three weeks really can set us up for the future, for the offseason, next year, and how we can build, and where we need to add pieces and all that kind of stuff, the development of our roster."
Pederson continued, "But having guys like Brenton make those comments, those are the type of players you want, right? You want those football players that love being here in this building, soaking up football, soaking up all, love being on the grass. Those are the guys that you can build your team around. And he's one of several, obviously, many, that we have on the team that can do that."
For the season, Strange has appeared in 14 games with seven starts and hauled in 34 receptions for 329 yards with two touchdowns. Against the Jets, he caught 11 receptions for 73 yards. What's impressive is that the former Nittany State Lion was unremarkable as a rookie but has been able to make significant strides in 2024.
The Jaguars have depth at TE if Brenton Strange can't go vs. the Raiders
With three weeks left in the season, Brenton Strange will tentatively play against the Las Vegas Raiders. Then again, there's a chance he could miss the game. If that's the case, the Jacksonville Jaguars will lean on reserves Josiah Deguara and Luke Farrell. Both of them have delivered when called upon. Another option would be to promote Shawn Bowman from the practice squad via standard elevation.
Sure, there's a chance Strange's injury isn't a reason for concern, but Pederson hasn't always provided an accurate timeline for players dealing with injuries this season. For instance, he said linebacker Foyesade Oloukun wouldn't miss time with a foot injury earlier this season and he ultimately was placed on Injured Reserve just a few days later.
Something similar happened with Engram. The head coach said that his shoulder injury wasn't a reason for concern and the veteran tight end also landed on IR.
Either way, the Jaguars must be prepared for the Raiders, with or without Brenton Strange, if they don't want to lose the second game in a row.