Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley confirmed on Thursday that free agent signing offensive tackle Kelvin Beachum would not play in Saturday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That's not really much of a surprise and wasn't unexpected, but it is worth noting that Beachum was in full pads on Thursday and did participate in some team drills. The team is taking it slowly with Beachum, but it appears he is on the right track.
"Yeah, he is," Bradley told reporters when asked if Beachum is taking steps forward from his knee injury. "You are starting to see him. I think he got like 11 or 12 reps yesterday and we are still progressing right there. Everything is going good. Just his confidence, his demeanor, how he is handling it, and his focus. Really, really making good strides."
As we've talked about previously, the idea for Beachum was always for him to be ready to play for Week 1 and by all accounts he's still on that track. With Beachum working in team drills with full pads, it means he's getting closer and closer to being a full go. I'm not sure if he will play during Week 3 against the Cincinnati Bengals, but if he does then you know he's ready to go Week 1 as long as his knee responds.