Could WR Jason Hill get on the field with Tiquan Underwood's struggles?

Last week the Jacksonville Jaguars claimed wide receiver Jason Hill from the San Francisco 49ers. Yesterday day on The Gene Smith Show on AM690 WOKV in Jacksonville, Jaguars general manager Gene Smith made a point to note how hard and how well the newly acquired Hill had been practicing up to that point. Hill wound up inactive on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns as expected, but could he be active against the New York Giants, and actually play a role in the offense?

Mike Sims-Walker could potentially miss his second game with a high ankle sprain this weekend. The team wouldn't even allow him on the sideline, he was forced to sit in a suite so he could ice his ankle. This gave wide receiver Tiquan Underwood his first start, and he did not make the most of the opportunity. Underwood struggled on kick returns, often hesitating and struggle to hit the hole. Late in the game in a critical moment, Underwood dropped the kick return and set the Jaguars back deep in their territory. Underwood averaged just 17.6 per return and a long of 25, well below what the Jaguars typically get with Deji Karim returning kicks.

His struggles were not limited to kick returns, either. Underwood dropped two easy touchdown passes. One was on a slant pattern that was actually a perfect throw by quarterback David Garrard. The safety over the top of Underwood fell and he had the corner beat. If Underwood simply just caught the football, it'd have been a long touchdown reception. Underwood flat out dropped the football, however. His second drop was in the endzone, but luckily Garrard hit tight end Marcedes Lewis on the next play for the touchdown. Garrard had another nice pass to Underwood, who again simply just dropped it.

Underwood ended the day with a single reception for 7 yards on five targets.

With word that Kassim Osgood likely to start this weekend in place of the injured Sims-Walker and the point Gene Smith made to emphasis how well Hill has been practicing, don't be surprised if Tiquan Underwood isn't active this week. Gene Smith cut a receiver named Nate Hughes last season for less after his poor performance against the Arizona Cardinals. I'm not saying the Jaguars should cut Underwood, but for much of the season he's been invisible and struggles to get playing time over Osgood, who many feel is just a special teams player.