Jaguars sign running back Matt Colburn, waived/injured running back Nathan Cottrell

The Jacksonville Jaguars have signed free agent running back Matt Colburn and waived/injured fellow running back Nathan Cottrell, the team announced on Sunday morning.

Colburn most recently played in the United States Football League (USFL) for the Philadelphia Stars in 2022. In four games with the Stars, he rushed 102 times for 457 yards and eight touchdowns, according to the Jaguars. He helped lead Philadelphia to the USFL Championship game, but the Birmingham Stallions bested the Stars by a final score of 33-30 to win the title.

Prior to the USFL, Colburn spent time with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL) in 2021. He also played for the Blues in The Spring League and the New York Guardians of the XFL in 2020.

Colburn went undrafted out of Wake Forest in 2019. He was signed as a free agent by the Los Angeles Rams that season, but waived on the final day of roster cuts before the start of the regular season. While at Wake Forest, Colburn rushed for 2,528 rushing yards (sixth in program history) and 15 touchdowns.

At Sunday’s training camp practice, Colburn was already seen participating:

As for Cottrell, a “waived/injured” designation essentially means that he is placed on waivers, and if he goes unclaimed by another team, he will revert to Jacksonville’s injured reserve list or the team will work out an injury settlement with Cottrell and release him.

If Cottrell does get placed on the Jaguars’ IR list, then he will not be eligible to play for the team this season. However, if he becomes healthy enough to pass a physical during the season, the Jaguars can release him and he would then would become a free agent.

The Jaguars signed Cottrell as an undrafted free agent out of Georgia Tech in 2020. He has appeared in 12 regular season games, but only has recorded one carry for three yards and seven kick returns for 123 yards (17.6 yards per carry).

Cottrell scored a touchdown and two-point conversion in Jacksonville’s 2022 preseason opener against the Las Vegas Raiders in the Hall of Fame Game on Thursday.