Injuries have hit the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offensive line unit hard in training camp.
Cole Van Lanen remains on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. Patrick Mekari has largely been sidelined, while Walker Little has missed time as of late as well.
Then on the first play of the Jaguars’ preseason opener with the Saints, Chuma Edoga went down with an injury.
“It’s kind of unfortunately we got that bug at the moment,” Liam Coen said afterward. “We just got to kind of get through it.”
With the starters not playing and the depth of this unit thin, the Saints’ defensive front took advantage, totaling four sacks, six tackles for loss, and seven quarterback hits. The Jaguars’ run game did get going, but overall, those were still hard-fought yards, with Jacksonville averaging just 3.3 yards per attempt.
“We’ve got a week, two weeks of good work that we need to take a step in the right direction, both physically and conditioning,” added Coen. “We have to practice, like we’re going to go pads a few times this week. We got the joint, we got the two joints against Tampa.”
As the Jaguars look to put their best five on the field, Anton Harrison has seemingly stuck at left tackle since moving there. Jonah Monheim has often played right guard and Wyatt Milum right tackle. Emmanuel Pregnon could get more looks at right guard following his performance against New Orleans.
The margins are thin for the Jaguars up front right now. For any offense, success begins with the offensive line providing a run game to lean on and time for the quarterback.
“So this is the time in training camp that these things sometimes pile up,” Coen said. “We’re just, unfortunately, it’s at a position in which it’s hard to function when you have depth issues and injuries. So we’ll have to push through it. We’ll be all right.”
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Coen addresses state of Jaguars’ OL unit after another injury
Reporting by Paul Bretl, Jaguars Wire / Jaguars Wire
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By Paul Bretl, Jaguars Wire | USA TODAY Network
