The Jaguars waived running back Cody Schrader before facing the Chiefs on Monday night, but he made a quick return to the team.
The Jags announced that they have signed Schrader to their active roster on Wednesday. No corresponding move was needed because the Jaguars placed tight end Brenton Strange on injured reserve Tuesday.
Schrader was signed off of the Rams’ practice squad ahead of Week 2. He did not appear in any games during his first stint with the team, but did play for the Rams as a temporary elevation in Week 1.
The Jaguars also announced that they have signed tight end Qadir Ismail. He is the son of former NFL wideout Qadry Ismail and the nephew of former NFL receiver Raghib Ismail.
Football, for the first time, is coming to Baltimore’s iconic baseball venue.
Via Todd Karpovich of the Baltimore Sun, the Rams will practice at Camden Yards in the days between their Week 6 game against the Ravens and their trip to London for a Week 7 game against the Jaguars.
The Rams struck a deal with the Orioles to use the facility from October 11 through 17.
Practicing at M&T Bank Stadium wasn’t an option, given the effort to preserve the quality of the grass field in the Ravens’ home venue.
As noted by Hayes Gardner of the Baltimore Banner, it will be the first time Camden Yards has ever been used for a sporting event other than a baseball game or practice since it opened 33 years ago.
In 1995, Camden Yards hosted a visit from the Pope. In recent years, concerts have been held there. Other than that, it’s been all baseball, with no football or other sports being played or practiced there.
The Rams’ practices at Camden Yards will be closed to the public.
It makes sense for the Rams, who otherwise would have had to return to L.A. and then re-cross the country before flying to London.
The Jaguars experienced something on Monday night that they had not experienced in a long time.
Their win over the Chiefs was their first on Monday Night Football since the 2011 season and it was also just their third appearance on a Monday night since that year. That speaks to how rarely the Jaguars have been in the NFL’s spotlight, at least for positive reasons, and the larger meaning of the win came up at head coach Liam Coen’s press conference on Tuesday.
Coen was asked if winning on Monday night in the manner they did against a team on the other end of the spectrum in terms of national attention represented a statement game for his team.
“The opportunity to play on primetime is definitely something that you want more of it as an organization,” Coen said. “As a team, you want to be able to play in those moments and have those stages to perform. We’re really not as concerned about the rest of the league in terms of how they view us. We obviously want respect, but that’s ours to take. You want to have pride in what you do as a team, as an individual, as a coach, as a player, as a staff member. You want to have pride in what you do. Ultimately, I think, when you go out and win those type of games, you can have pride in how you walk and how you talk and how you parent and how you father and how you do everything. Our players right now have confidence. There’s still a lot to clean up, but there’s a lot of confidence in this building right now.”
Winning leads to more national television exposure, a bigger place in conversations about the state of the league and other things that lead to the kind of respect that Coen was talking about on Tuesday. The Jaguars are doing their part so far with a 4-1 start and more of the same will ensure a higher profile than they’ve grown accustomed to in Jacksonville.
The Jaguars will not have a key offensive weapon for at least the next four weeks.
Jacksonville has placed tight end Brenton Strange on injured reserve, the team announced on Tuesday.
Strange suffered a hip injury during Monday night’s victory over the Chiefs. He had one 22-yard catch before having to exit the contest.
In five games this season, Strange has recorded 20 receptions for 204 yards.
A second-round pick in 2023, Strange caught 4 passes for 411 yards with two TDs last season.
Additionally, the Jags have signed receiver Tim Jones to the practice squad and released receiverErik Ezukanma from the practice squad.
Monday night was the kind of game the Chiefs usually find a way to win, and the Jaguars usually find a way to lose.
Last night, in one stunning play that started with Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence falling down — twice — and finished with a game-winning touchdown run, the narrative flipped.
Lawrence and the Jaguars found a way to win a game they felt destined to squander. And Lawrence, who said after the game that he shifted into panic mode, has shifted the way he will be regarded, internally and externally.
Most quarterbacks find their ceiling fairly early in their careers. They become who they are going to be and, with minor variations, that’s where they stay.
But some quarterbacks find a way to become more than they have been. Lawrence, who showed the potential in 2022 to become a top-five quarterback, had settled into the murky waters between 10 and 20.
Now, who knows? On his 26th birthday, a new Trevor Lawrence emerged. The question is whether he can build on the fresh vibe that emerged in the ultimate make-or-break moment. If his trip and fall (and fall) had contributed to a loss, the end result would have been just another game in which Lawrence made a key mistake that kept the Jaguars from winning. His ability to turn a pratfall into the team’s first victory over the Chiefs since 2009 possibly marks a new beginning for Lawrence, and for the Jaguars.
Where it goes from here is up to Lawrence. The next opportunity arrives on Sunday, when the Seahawks visit Jacksonville and Lawrence has a chance to push his team’s record to 5-1. After that, it’s the Rams in London.
