The Jacksonville Jaguars suffered a humiliating defeat to the Detroit Lions in Week 11. To make matters worse, they lost several players to injury during the game. Among them was wide receiver Gabe Davis, whose season has come to an abrupt halt.
Head coach Doug Pederson met with the local media one day after the 52-6 loss and said that Davis had a season-ending injury. Here's what he had to say about the fifth-year receiver.
He is going to miss the rest of the season. It is confirmed this morning," Pederson said when asked to provide an update on Davis. So, gosh, I hate it for him. He's battled through some injury this season but he was in good spirits today when I saw him. But he'll, he'll miss the remainder of the year.
Davis left the game and didn't return. Pederson also shared updates on left guard Ezra Cleveland, safety Andre Cisco, and cornerbacks Tyson Campell and Ronald Darby. They all got hurt at some point in the game, but the head coach says they'll be fine.
"Ezra just kind of tweaked his ankle, same one he's had. He's fine. Walker Little came out, had a little knee tweak in there. He's going to be okay. Everybody else... Cisco or Tyson, he came off kind of holding all the three DBs, Darby, Buster, and Tyson, are all going to be fine," Pederson said.
Earlier this season, Davis dealt with a shoulder injury that hindered his performance and missed the Week 10 game against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Fernandina Beach native ended up appearing in 10 games with nine starts, catching his 20 passes for 391 yards with two touchdowns.
On the other hand, his catch rate of 47.6 was the worst of his career. That's certainly not the production the Jags expected when they gave him a three-year deal worth $39 million.
Before joining the Jags, Davis spent his first four NFL seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He appeared in 74 games with 56 starts and caught 183 passes for 2,969 yards with 29 touchdowns.
Gabe Davis' season-ending injury leaves the Jaguars' offense devoid of weapons
With Gabe Davis out for the season, the Jaguars will most likely lean more on Tim Jones and sophomore Elijah Cooks. Already, they lost slot receiver Christian Kirk for the season, so it's fair to say that their arsenal of weapons has been severely hindered.
Working in Davis' favor is that even if the Jaguars clean house and bring in a new regime, he's a safe bet to stay in 2025. If the team's brass released him, they would accelerate a cap charge of $13.6 million and leave $20 million in dead money.
On the bright side, Davis will have a chance to prove his worth once his back and build an even better rapport with Trevor Lawrence, which should in turn lead to better production on the field.
The bottom line is that the early results of the Gabe Davis signing haven't been great but the Jacksonville Jaguars have no choice but to wait for his return next year.