Tank Bigsby is the biggest surprise in final Jaguars injury report for Week 11
The Jacksonville Jaguars have already ruled out Trevor Lawrence for Week 11, but he won't be their only player who will be unavailable when they face the Detroit Lions.
Running back Tank Bigsby didn't practice Wednesday or Thursday but was a limited participant Friday. In the end, he was ruled out for the Lions game, so Travis Etienne will be RB1.
Head coach Doug Pederson hoped he would be healthy enough to play. On the other hand, left guard Ezra Cleveland is good to go even though he appeared as questionable. The same is true for defensive end Josh Hines-Allen and cornerback Tyson Cambell. Both of them popped up on the initial injury report with shoulder injuries.
"Tank's gonna go today. We'll see," Pederson told the local media. "Optimistic, but today will be a big day for him. Ezra should be good to go. Josh is good. Tyson, guys that showed up on the report. This time of year, guys are going to be banged up, but the ones that have shown up have practiced this week should be good for the game."
Pederson also talked about rookie Keilan Robinson, who began the regular season on Injured Reserve but had his 21-window to return activated a couple weeks ago. The former Texas Longhorn had no restrictions in practice but the Jags will need to make a roster move to free up a spot for him.
"It's been discussed. You know, we'd have to make a roster move, obviously, to do it. It's just hard this late in the week, but it'll be a conversation to have."
In the media availability session, Pederson also discussed the status of defensive tackle Maason Smith, who's sat out the past two games with an ankle injury. He showed up as questionable in the final injury report.
"He'll have an opportunity, but I don't know if he'll be up if that's if that makes sense. We gotta, we'll make the final determination, you know, later today, after practice."
Below is the full injury report. Lawrence and Bigsby are out while Robinson, Smith, and Cleveland got the questionable tag.
On the opposite sideline, the Lions listed linebacker Ben Niemann as questionable. They also ruled out defensive back Ifeatu Melifonwu, cornerback Emmanuel Mosley, tight end Sam Laporta, and defensive tackle Brodick Martin.
Mac Jones will start behind center when the Jaguars face the Lions
With Trevor Lawrence already ruled out, Mac Jones will make his second straight start behind center. Doug Pederson says the fourth-year quarterback looks confident ahead of the game.
"Same Mac, a lot of confidence. He really embraced this week, this challenge, what he's going to face, Sunday. [He] continues to lead the guys, to lead the offense. He had a good day yesterday, really the last two days.
I talked to you guys Wednesday, but I'm sure, he wants to rebound from the end of the game last week and put his best foot forward. But again, he's got a ton of confidence. We got a ton of confidence in him. Guys around him do, he's had a good week," Pederson said.
Jones went 14-of-22 for 115 yards with two interceptions in the loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 11. He'll need to play much better if the Jacksonville Jaguars want to pull off the upset in Week 12. Currently, they're a 13-point underdog, and it's hard to see them coming out on top if they play like they did the past game.
Working in the Jags' favor is that Trevor Lawrence notwithstanding, they'll be as healthy as they can be at this point of the season.