Jacksonville Jaguars do rash roster cleansing to cut strength at 53 players – NFL News
The Jacksonville Jaguars have introduced sweeping but expected changes in the squad to cut down the roster strength to 53 players as per requirement of the National Football League (NFL).
All 32 franchises of the league were required to bring down the number of players from 75, which was achieved last Monday, at 53 by Friday. They are allowed to keep up to 93 players on their rosters in the offseason phase.
The Jaguars have let some veterans and rookies go unceremoniously well before commencement of the regular season.
A couple of injured players have been placed on the injured reserve (IR) list, ruling them out of the squad for initial six games. This is a sort of indirect help for the teams to slash down roster.
Guard Will Rackley with a high-ankle sprain has joined centre John Estes and guard Jason Spitz on the IR. He suffered the injury during training camp. After recovering to an extent, he again suffered the same problem during last preseason game on past Thursday.
Some of other players released by the team are cornerbacks Trumaine McBrideand Leigh Torrence, safety Courtney Greene, defensive back Rod Issac, quarterback Jordan Palmer, wide receiver Demetrius Williams and defensive tackle Corvey Irvin.
Rookie waivers include defensive ends Ryan Davis and Kendrick Adams, linebackers Joshua Jones and J.J. s******r, cornerback Antonio Dennard, offensive tackle Lee Barbiasz, guard D.J. Hall and receiver Mike Brown.
Others players who are let go include fullback Will Ta’ufo’ou, guard Daniel Baldridge, defensive end Odrick Ray and tight end Colin Cloherty.
Meanwhile, the Jaguars have not updated the status of protesting running back Maurice Jones-Drew, whose fate with the team hangs in balance without any side willing to back off from their stern stance on the deal matter.
General Manager Gene Smith has reiterated the team’s stance of not working out a new contract for the player only a couple of days ago, while the player continues to persist with his demand.
Some commentators have noted with concerns that the player is unable to return to action whether with or without deal from the team, and this can have a negative outfall on his performance and damage his reputation in the league.
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