The Jacksonville Jaguars will travel to have joint practices with the Minnesota Vikings without a few players this afternoon. Guard Andrew Norwell, defensive tackle Eli Ankou and defensive end Dawuane Smoot will not take part in the joint practices and presumably will not play in Saturday’s preseason game.
The big name here is guard Andrew Norwell, who was signed to a massive free agent contract this past offseason. Norwell was dealing with a calf issue last week and sat out the preseason opener against the New Orleans Saints, but it appears the Jaguars are being extremely cautious with the injury and holding Norwell out further.
Smoot has been out for a few days with injury and these are critical practices for the second-year defensive end, who might find himself battling for a roster spot on a loaded defensive line who just added first round pick Taven Bryan. Ankou has been out for a little over a week and his injury is believed to believed the more serious of the three.