Today Alualu was limited in practice...again. He's been limited or out of every Wednesday practice so far this season with a nagging knee injury that hasn't seemed to heal.
Perhaps that explains his poor play through the first quarter of the season. Make no mistake about it, he hasn't been the explosive player that wreaked havoc in his rookie season and even in preseason of this season. I'm not alone in thinking as much.
ProFootballFocus has ranked Alualu as the league's worst defensive tackle so far in the season. During WOKV's Jaguars This Week, Tony Boselli, Jeff Lageman and John Oehser noted that his play hasn't been at the explosiveness he has shown in the past. Boselli, Lageman and Oehser all said there's no question that Alualu is hurt and that, while he's been good enough to hold the point and be a decent tackle, he is simply not going to provide explosive plays
If Alualu is hurt and his knee isn't healing, at some point in time the Jaguars may have to consider sending him to the injured reserve. When he was drafted tenth overall it was with the intention to have him make an impact on the defense for several years, but shredding an already injured knee threatens that.