Jags ink players they cut to practice squad
JACKSONVILLE — A day after the Jaguars cut their roster to 53 players, they signed a full 10-man practice squad Sunday.
At least to start, the Jaguars’ practice squad will be divided equally between offense and defense.
On offense: sixth-round quarterback Tanner Lee, lineman Kc McDermott, running back Brandon Wilds, tight end David Grinnage and receiver Allen Lazard.
On defense: lineman Lyndon Johnson, linebacker Nick DeLuca, safety C.J. Reavis and cornerbacks Dee Delaney and Quenton Meeks.
All 10 players were on the Jaguars prior to Saturday’s cuts.
The Jaguars were not awarded any players via waiver claims Sunday and none of the players they waived the previous day were claimed by another team.
Lee, a 6-foot-4 strongarmed quarterback from Nebraska, struggled during training camp but had a solid performance during the Jaguars’ final preseason game Thursday against Tampa Bay.
He finished 11-of-22 passing for 164 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.
In two preseason appearances, Lee completed 15 of 30 passes for 201 yards.
Wilds carried 17 times for 88 yards (5.2 yards per carry) against the Buccaneers and earned a practice squad spot over Tim Cook. The Jaguars chose to keep three running backs (Leonard Fournette, T.J. Yeldon and Corey Grant) on their 53-man roster, so Wilds could be next in line if one were to be injured.
Lynch made the team as the third quarterback, but Elway indicated his survival on cutdown day Saturday was more a function of Kelly’s inexperience after spending his rookie season on IR last year.
“With Chad not having a lot of experience and not having played in a regularseason game before, we thought that we had to go with three quarterbacks,” Elway said, “and Paxton was our third.”
Less than 24 hours later, Elway found a better option.
Hogan and Lynch were both part of the 2016 draft class.
Lynch was the third quarterback selected overall, after Jared Goff and Carson Wentz.
Hogan was the 14th quarterback taken, by Kansas City with the 162nd overall pick in the fifth round, after setting several records at Stanford, including most career wins by a quarterback (36) and most rushing yards by a quarterback
The same goes for Grinnage, who spent all of last season on the Jaguars’ practice squad. The Jaguars kept Austin Seferian-Jenkins, James O’Shaughnessy and Niles Paul on their roster and could need another tight end before the season is over.
Meeks had seven tackles against the Buccaneers and totaled a team-high 11 during the preseason along with two passes defensed. The Stanford product is an intriguing developmental player because of his size (61⁄209) and ball skills (seven interceptions in three seasons with the Cardinal).
Delaney, who intercepted Tampa Bay quarterback Austin Allen on Thursday, notched six preseason tackles and three passes defensed.
With Jalen Ramsey, A.J. Bouye, D.J. Hayden and Tyler Patmon on the roster, the Jaguars do not have an imminent
(1,249).
Both have made spot appearances in the NFL.
Lynch has played in five games with four starts, going 1-3 with four touchdowns and four interceptions.
In eight games, including one start, for the Cleveland Browns over the last two seasons, Hogan threw for four touchdowns with seven interceptions. He also has rushed for 176 yards and a touchdown in 18 attempts, a 9.8-yard average.
He was traded to Washington on April 6 and was waived by the Redskins on Saturday.
Hogan was a starter for four seasons at Stanford, as was Hall-of-Famer Elway. Hogan led the Cardinal to four bowls, including two Rose Bowl victories.
Stanford never reached a bowl game with Elway, who was thwarted in his final game by California’s remarkable multi-lateral game-winning kickoff return.
Elway and Joseph had need at cornerback.
There could be one at linebacker, though, where the Jaguars were likely hindered from upgrading by being in the 29th position on the waiver wire.
Beyond starters Telvin Smith (weak side), Myles Jack (middle) and rookie Leon Jacobs (strong side), the Jaguars are thin. They also kept reserves Donald Payne and Blair Brown, but neither has looked comfortable playing the strong-side spot.
Unless the Jaguars acquire some outside help, DeLuca could be their nextbest option. The Jaguars signed DeLuca on Aug. 21, the same day they waived linebacker Brooks Ellis after he left the team.
Practice squad players make at least $7,600 per week during the regular season under the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement.
held out hope that Lynch was just a late-bloomer, continuing to express their belief in him even as fans had soured on him.
After bypassing the deep quarterback class in this year’s draft, Elway said he still thought Lynch could be a starting NFL quarterback, insisting, “We are not kicking him to the curb.”
That thinking changed Sunday.
In another move, the Broncos placed safety Su’a Cravens from USC on IR with an injured left knee and re-signed Isaiah McKenzie, the speedy returner/receiver who was among the team’s cuts a day earlier. Cravens will miss at least half the season now that he’s on IR.
He missed most of training camp and the first three preseason games with soreness in his left knee, the same one he had surgery on last year to repair a torn meniscus while he was with Washington. The Broncos acquired Cravens in a trade this spring.