Jaguars Camp — Sep 3: Atlanta Claimed the Only Jaguar

The wire took one Jaguar. Linebacker Yasir Abdullah, a fifth-round pick in the 2023 draft with 29 games and three starts, mostly on special teams, was claimed by Atlanta on Monday and is on the Falcons' 53, per Carlos Sanchez at Black and Teal — the only Jaguar claimed after the cuts. The fifth linebacker job here had gone to Jahlani Tavai, signed in August, who had the starting experience Abdullah did not, per Sanchez. Going the other way, Jacksonville sat 20-fourth on the claim order, per John Shipley at Jaguars On SI, where any claim would have cost a place on the 53, and it made none. Peña, Wortham and Muhammad, the three names we told you to watch for a landing, all landed back here.

What Jacksonville did instead was buy its own cuts back. 15 practice-squad signings Monday, per the team, and every one of them a player the club had waived or released the day before. On offense: quarterbacks Joey Aguilar and Nick Mullens, offensive linemen Geron Christian Sr., Jimto Obidegwu and Kilian Zierer, receivers Tim Jones, Trebor Peña, Austin Trammell and Michael Wortham, and running back J'Mari Taylor. On defense: defensive tackle T.J. Bollers, linebackers Jack Kiser and Jalen McLeod, both 2025 draft picks, cornerback Jabbar Muhammad and safety Cam'Ron Silmon-Craig. Zierer's contract is through the International Player Pathway Program, per the team's log. Mullens is the one who carries the most: released Sunday to make room for Quinn Ewers, back Monday, with James Gladstone's reason, per John Oehser at the team's site — "Being able to understand that he can operate our offense in the way that it's intended to is something that we don't want to just separate from." Then Tuesday, three from outside, per the team: offensive lineman Eli Cox, off Houston's practice squad last year; safety Kaevon Merriweather, Tampa Bay and Houston since 2023; and tight end Hayden Rucci, two years with Miami — with Obidegwu released to make room. 17 as of Tuesday, by the team's own announcements. Liam Coen: "I would say we improved. I would say that it's more competitive. There's a mix of some guys that you feel like you can elevate." Only four of the 17 were on last year's squad, per Shipley.

The competing story is money, and it is deliberate. On Monday the team restructured Josh Hines-Allen's contract for 4.56 million in cap room and on Tuesday Travon Walker's, per Shipley, citing Over The Cap and Ryan O'Halloran — both after the 53 was set. Gladstone, per Shipley: "I think that's a move to make so that we're not forced to do anything should we pursue an avenue. We want to make sure we have the flexibility we need to keep things on the table as the season progresses." Shipley's precedent is last year's midseason trade for Jakobi Meyers. Gladstone's own description of the roster math, per Shipley: lighter at linebacker, heavier across the defensive front. Shipley counts five linebackers after Devin Lloyd left for Carolina, one of them Kiser on the practice squad, with Ventrell Miller, 11 career starts, and Branson Combs, none, platooning at the second spot, and the passing-down answer may be more safeties and fewer linebackers, with Caleb Ransaw and Jalen Husket the names.

Two things to fix on the page. We listed Sam Mustipher among the released veterans; he was placed on injured reserve on Sunday, per the team's log. And we gave Bryan Thomas Jr.'s finale as two and a half sacks, four hurries and a pass defensed; Oehser's profile has it as two and a half sacks and four quarterback hits, with a preseason total of three and a half sacks, second in the league. Coen on him: "Bryan's playstyle is the right way. It fits a lot of the things that we preach." Thomas on himself: "I always play with effort. I learned that from my pops" — Bryan Thomas Sr., 11 seasons with the Jets.

Where the injured are, as of the team's log this week: guard Patrick Mekari and defensive end Zach Durfee on injured reserve with return designations, Mekari out at least the first four games, as we told you, and Durfee on the same tag — and those were the team's only two designations, with Kiser passed over for one and now on the practice squad. Mustipher on injured reserve. Defensive tackle Keivie Rose and quarterback Carter Bradley waived injured and reverted. Seventh-round linebacker Parker Hughes on injured reserve since August 17, season over, per Shipley. And running back LeQuint Allen Jr. is not on any list — kept on the 53 through the soft-tissue injury that ended his camp, which keeps him available inside the first month. Coen on Wednesday, per Shipley: "I'd be pleasantly surprised if he was ready to go, but I know that this guy has attacked it." On who takes the third-down job, Coen named the two backs behind him, Chris Rodriguez Jr. and Ameer Abdullah: "I think C-Rod's done a great job in pass protection specifically. And then Ameer, I think, can help us in some of the pass game." Ameer Abdullah made the roster over DeeJay Dallas and Taylor on exactly that, per Sanchez.

Gladstone spoke Tuesday, his first availability on the 53. On how it was picked: "When you earn it, you're going to get it." Gladstone said Emmanuel Pregnon, the rookie at left guard, "has earned a lot of trust, a lot of equity from both teammates and coaches over the course of the offseason and training camp." On Anton Harrison at left tackle: "I think that he is naturally someone who fits the bill for the left tackle spot." On a Parker Washington extension: "We're certainly in a position where we're not going to stop talking and try to figure something out." Coen on Cole Van Lanen at right tackle, off the physically-unable-to-perform list since August 20: "I know he's looked really good. I know he's got some confidence… So, I'm hopeful," with Wyatt Milum the swing tackle. Shipley's line piece has Harrison at left tackle, Pregnon at left guard and Van Lanen at right tackle, and names no right guard — the job Mekari's injured reserve opened. Both starting receivers practised Tuesday: Brian Thomas Jr. full go, Jakobi Meyers limited in catching and set to go again Wednesday. Coen: "Yeah, they'll be good."

Back in July we previewed Jacksonville as a team the market was taxing too steeply for one good season — a case built on stability: same play-caller, same quarterback, a settled offensive line. The season being taxed: 13 four, the division, a defense third in expected points added allowed per play — the measure of how much each snap moved the opponent's expected score — with 31 takeaways, second in the league, under an offense fourteenth. Cut day formalized the stability half as gone at the line. This week put the roster back together around that — a practice squad built entirely out of its own cuts, the backup quarterback included — and then cleared money for the one thing a stable roster does not need, a midseason trade. The July split holds. The front office is now visibly planning for the half of it that went wrong.

Next is the Browns, Sunday, September 13, at EverBank Stadium. What to watch: who is at right guard on the first snap, and whether Allen practices in game week. The Recap follows the game.

_Data via nflverse._