Julius Thomas injury return news could come next week

The Jacksonville Jaguars have been hit with some injuries this season, still dealing without their best offensive and defensive players. Big time free agent signing tight end Julius Thomas got hurt in the first preseason and hasn't been on the field ever since. Originally it was thought that Thomas would miss just the preseason and be ready for action Week 1, but something happened and he ended up needing surgery on his hand, my guess is it just didn't heal as expected, which is not uncommon.

The expectation right now is that Julius Thomas could be available for the Jaguars Week 4 matchup with the Indianapolis Colts, who are currently 0-2, or the week after against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and so far that seems to still be right on track.

Julius Thomas said he returns to the doctor early next week for clearance to up his activity. Passed on further commenting until cleared.

— Ryan O'Halloran (@ryanohalloran) September 21, 2015

Getting Thomas back in the fold could be a big boost for a Jaguars offense that is still getting the engine warmed up. Blake Bortles is coming off arguably the best game of his career so far with Allen Robinson having a career day and adding a threat like Thomas to the offense just helps everyone on the field.

I don't think the Jaguars offense has been "bad", even in Week 1, but they're desperately in need of a play maker and someone who's a legitimate redzone threat. Thomas offers both of those, so when he's back in the fold it could help that offense take the next step that they need to.