Jacksonville Jaguars right guard Patrick Mekari’s spirit and want-to level were willing late in the 2025 season. His back wasn’t.
Nineteen snaps in Week 16 at Denver.
Inactive in Week 17 at Indianapolis.
Inactive in Week 18 against Tennessee.
And 44 snaps in the playoff loss to Buffalo.
“It was miserable the entire time,” Mekari told me after a recent practice. “You can’t believe it. Miserable.”
Anybody who has tweaked their back has felt the sensation of crippling pain. Times that by 1,000 when trying to play football in the NFL. Mekari’s postseason recovery meant he couldn’t pick up his young daughter for several weeks.
At age 28, when he walked off the field after the playoff game, did Mekari think his career was over?
“Never,” he said flatly. “Never.”
Mekari has participated in team work during the two Jaguars organized team activity days that have been open to the media, a product of intense rehabilitation.
“I’ve been really trying to develop a better sense of the rehab and ask, ‘Why am I doing this?’ and it’s made every exercise more enjoyable,” he said. “If you can convince me of the purpose of the exercise, great, I’ll do it.”
Mekari carries a $7.4 million salary cap hit this year, a figure that jumps to $18.2 million in 2027 so he has this year to prove to the Jaguars — or a future team — he can stay healthy and play into his 30s. The Jaguars can create $13 million of cap space by moving on from Mekari after this year.
About the Jaguars/NFL
1. Koziol makes impression: Rookie tight end Tanner Koziol flashed during the June 2 practice when he made an acrobatic catch while running down the left seam. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s throw was behind Koziol, but he contorted his body in mid-air and made the catch look easy.
That got me thinking — might the Jaguars keep five tight ends on the initial 53-man roster? To finish last year, the Jaguars had four tailbacks, receivers and tight ends apiece. Let’s use 12 as the working number.
They could keep three tailbacks (Chris Rodriguez Jr., Bhayshul Tuten and LeQuint Allen Jr.), four receivers (Parker Washington, Jakobi Meyers, Brian Thomas Jr., and Josh Cameron) and five tight ends (Koziol, Brenton Strange, Nate Boerkircher, Hunter Long and Quintin Morris).
Strange and Boerkircher are the clear Nos. 1-2 and Long/Morris bring experience, toughness and special teams value. But if Koziol impresses during the preseason games, he may be tough to slide through waivers and onto the practice squad.
What makes keeping five tight ends doable is carrying four “true” receivers and having Travis Hunter as a cornerback/receiver.
2. Washington comparable? Washington’s agent, Zeke Sandhu, likely took note when the Green Bay Packers agreed to a four-year, $110.5 million contract ($31 million signing bonus per ESPN) with receiver Christian Watson on June 4.
Through four years, Watson’s averages are 12 games, 33.3 catches, 566 yards and five touchdowns.
Through three years, Washington’s averages are 14 games, 35.3 catches, 456 yards and 3.3 touchdowns.
3. Taylor’s injury: Jaguars cornerback Keith Taylor was placed on injured reserve on June 4, replaced on the roster by veteran cornerback Dane Jackson. A source said Taylor sustained a torn pectoral tendon last month while lifting weights.
Team Building 101
How championship-level teams are built is always a rabbit hole I like burrowing into and there are three sets of examples this month: The NBA Finals (New York/San Antonio), the Stanley Cup Final (Vegas/Carolina) and the three Cinderella Super Regional teams in NCAA baseball (Little Rock/Troy/St. John’s).
NBA: San Antonio lists 18 players on their roster — seven draft and free agent additions apiece and four via trade. New York lists 14 players — three draft, four free agents and seven via trade.
NHL: What a contrast. Vegas lists 32 players — two expansion draft, four draft, eight free agents and 18 (18!) via trade. Vegas is hockey’s version of the Los Angeles Rams (trade high-round picks for veteran players). Carolina lists 34 players — 14 draft, 11 free agents, seven via trade and two via waivers.
NCAA baseball: Little Rock has 27 transfers (seven Power 4), St. John’s 15 transfers (four Power 4) and Troy 27 transfers (six Power 4). These teams focused on the junior college and lower-level college ranks to build their rosters.
Extra Points
1. Post-portal rankings: ESPN and The Athletic assembled a men’s basketball top 25 after the NBA’s draft entry deadline. ESPN’s top five is Florida, Duke, Michigan, Illinois and Connecticut. The Athletic’s top five is Illinois, Florida, Duke, Arizona and Michigan. In the SEC/ACC Challenge, Duke will visit Florida.
2. Saban’s Alabama payrolls: Former Alabama coach Nick Saban answered questions during a senate hearing this week and revealed his final three player payrolls were $2.7 million, $7 million and $10 million and rose to $17 million and $24 million in Kalen DeBoer’s first two years and is expected to be $40 million this year. The question I have for teams is what is the payroll figure that is equal parts sustainable year-after-year and keeps them competitive for conference and national championships? Shoot, who can say we won’t see a $100 million payroll within a few years?
3. Peterman’s new career: According to Sports Business Journal, former NFL quarterback Nathan Peterman (Bartram Trail High School) has joined Range Sports as an agent and will focus on, “talent identification and recruiting, NIL representation and, pending certification, NFL player representation.” He will be based in Jacksonville.
4. Preseason predictions season: The first batch of college football magazines are on the shelf of my local Barnes & Noble (St. Johns Town Center). First up is Lindy’s. It ranks Florida eighth in the SEC (25th overall), Miami first (seventh) and Florida State 13th (48th) in the ACC and UCF 13th (63rd) in the Big 12.
5. This and that: The World Cup starts on June 11 throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada and the expansion from 32 to 48 teams means more matches — at just about every hour. Kickoff times (eastern) during the group stage will be held at 12 a.m. (9 p.m., Pacific), 12 p.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m., 7 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 9 p.m., 10 p.m., and 11 p.m. … An annual award shouldn’t be given in the prism of Lifetime Achievement but that appears to be the case with the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Jon Cooper winning the Jack Adams Award (top coach). He is the NHL’s best coach and a two-time champion, but Cooper should have finished runner-up to the Buffalo Sabres’ Lindy Ruff (who finished second). The Sabres improved from 79 to 109 points. Worse yet, Ruff was left off 32 of the 99 ballots; any broadcaster who didn’t have Ruff in the top three should lose their vote because they clearly don’t follow the league. … CBS is banking on now-retired quarterback Russell Wilson having a figurative button to push to make him have an opinion. As a player, he was Exhibit A of a cliché machine.
Contact O’Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com or on X at @ryanohalloran. Listen to Ryan on 1010AM on Tuesdays (6:35 p.m. on “Into The Night”), Thursdays (1:15 on “XL Primetime”) and Fridays (4-6 p.m. on “The Lead”).
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars’ Patrick Mekari never considered walking away after back injury
Reporting by Ryan O’Halloran, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Ryan O'Halloran, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union | USA TODAY Network
