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From the Department of Terrible News...
The Jaguars announced today that two of their Tight Ends would be lost for the season after injuries sustained against the Bills.
George Wrightster is not surprising considering the way his knee buckled and the way he acted on the Sideline. He'll have to have Surgery to repair a torn ACL. George only has 123 yards and a TD this season, but it seemed like all of his catches came at critical times. He's had some very sure hands this season and his loss will be painful...
We also lost Greg Estandia for the season due to a shoulder injury that will require Surgery. Estandia has emerged as the "Matt Jones" of our offense, making big catches, converting on 3rd down, and making moves in traffic. He's also one of the most consistent pass catchers on the team.
Tight Ends Coach Mike Tice had this to say:
Tice is refering to the activation of Issac Smolko from the practice squad and the re-signing of Rich Angulo. We've also got Marcades Lewis, so I'm not soooo concerned.
Actually, scratch that, I'm damn scared about losing these two guys. These two guys account for 20% of all passes caught, and 15% of all the total yards by Jaguars receivers. They are only 10% of all first downs, but that's still pretty significant. We're losing a pretty big part of our passing offense after one game.
I'm used to a streak of defensive injuries, losing this many on the offense is strange. We're fortunate though, Reggie Williams and Ernest Wilford have really come alive lately in the passing game, as well as Marcades Lewis. It'll be a challange, but one we can overcome.
Now, I wish this could have happened at a sligtly less important...like after we play the Colts, but whatever. We survived the loss of Garrard, we survived without Stroud, we're surviving without Peterson, and we'll survive without Estandia and Wrighster.
ESPN has this to say about Angulo:
And, strangely, nothing to say about Smolko.
In better news, Jack Del Rio says that Mathis is likely to play on Sunday against the Colts:
"We were able to take away the most dangerous player," Del Rio said of wide receiver Lee Evans, who didn't register a catch until late in the game. Aaron Glenn replaced Mathis at corner.
"I thought it was best for our football team that he be as healthy as possible going forward and not be a nagging injury," Del Rio said of his decision to rest Mathis. Obviously, Del Rio wanted Mathis fully recovered to play against Peyton Manning and the Colts.
So there you go, a little bad news, but some very good news. I'll have more as I hear about it!
-Chris
