When Jaguars left tackle Anton Harrison was placed on injured reserve earlier this month, word was that the results of knee surgery would determine how long he’ll be out.
A report on Friday morning indicates that Harrison is going to be out for a long time. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that surgeons discovered Harrison has a torn ACL during his procedure on Thursday.
Harrison, who was injured in Jacksonville’s Week 5 win over the Eagles, will miss the rest of the season as a result of that diagnosis. Harrison will be in the final year of his rookie contract in 2027.
Walker Little took over at left tackle in Week 6 and Friday’s word means that he will be set to stay there for the long term.
Jaguars Clips
NFL official Larry Smith suffered a season-ending injury on Sunday in London.
Smith, who serves as the umpire on referee Shawn Hochuli’s crew, suffered a torn quadricep and is out for the season, according to FootballZebras.com.
Smith slipped on the wet grass at Wembley Stadium and fell on his back, tried to get up and fell again between plays. Trainers from both teams attended to him and he was eventually taken off the field on a cart. The officiating crew was down to six for the rest of the game, with other officials splitting the umpire’s responsibilities.
This is Smith’s first season officiating in the NFL after several seasons working in college football and spring leagues. Now he’ll sit out and won’t work another game until 2027.
The NFL will have to find a replacement umpire for Hochuli’s crew for the rest of the season. The league always has some officials lined up who can join a crew during the season when needed.
With the Eagles slipping to 2-4 and the Commanders sliding to 1-4-1, the two teams have a Week 8 prime-time date looming. And if the league is considering a flex (as it reportedly was out of last week), the clock is ticking.
By rule, Tuesday, October 20, is the deadline for moving the Sunday night game.
The problem is the absence of clear options. Ravens-Bills makes the most sense, but the Ravens play the following Thursday night. Vikings-Lions is a possibility, if the NFL is willing to commit now to flexing Lions-Vikings in Week 15 out of Sunday night.
Colts-Jaguars wouldn’t have as much sizzle as Eagles-Commanders, given the wide-open nature of the NFC East. The Jaguars are off this week, so they’re guaranteed to enter the game at 4-2. The Colts, who face the Vikings on Sunday and who have fired their G.M., could be 2-5 by Week 8.
Browns-Steelers and Chiefs-Broncos are presumably off the table because the first game between the rivals was televised in prime time. (By rule, at least one game of a home-and-home division rivalry must be televised on Sunday afternoon.)
It’s ultimately the league’s decision. By tomorrow night, everyone should know what it is.
Travis Hunter had his most productive offensive day of the season in London on Sunday and his expanded role at wide receiver came at the expense of Brian Thomas.
Jaguars head coach Liam Coen left Thomas on the bench for the entire second half of their 34-31 loss to the Texans. Thomas was targeted three times in the first half, but had a drop and no catches before spending the rest of the day on the sideline. Thomas also went without a catch in Week 5, which led to a question for Coen about his confidence in the 2024 first-round pick.
“Just week to week. Week to week. Guys have to step up and make plays,” Coen said, via Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union.
Jaguars General Manager James Gladstone called trade chatter concerning Thomas “fraudulent” in March, but the last couple of weeks give some reason to think that conversations could be had about what whether the wideout’s future is in Jacksonville.
More than 40 years after video killed the radio star, Sunday morning football could be killing the traditional pregame shows.
Last week, the Eagles-Jaguars game in London ate into the ratings for the Fox and CBS noon ET pregame shows, as noted recently by Sean Keely of Awful Announcing.
This week, the Texans-Jaguars game in London lasted until 12:48 p.m. ET, leaving only 12 minutes before the end of the Fox and CBS pregame shows.
It’s the third straight Sunday with a 9:30 a.m. ET game. And three more 9:30 a.m. ET games are coming: Week 7 (Steelers-Saints), Week 9 (Bengals-Falcons), and Week 10 (Patriots-Lions).
Spinning it forward, the next Collective Bargaining Agreement will expand the annual slate of international games to 16. That will surely increase the number of games played in Europe, which will increase the number of games that begin at 9:30 a.m. ET. Which will increase the number of times that the Fox and CBS pregame shows are undermined by live game action.
Throw in the fact that there’s non-stop NFL news and analysis, and it could spark a conversation regarding whether it makes sense to overhaul the current model, with the pregame shows shifting to the hour before the 9:30 a.m. ET game begins.
The fans in London got their money’s worth today, with the Texans and Jaguars battling back and forth until Houston kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired for a hard-fought 34-31 win.
Jaguars kicker Cam Little made a 60-yard field goal with 1:55 remaining to tie the score, but the Texans’ offense then marched down the field for Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn to make a 49-yarder with no time left.
The win is a huge one for the Texans, their second straight win after an 0-4 start, and it keeps them in contention to turn their season around and win the AFC South. The Jaguars fall to 4-2, and although they’re still the division favorites, the Texans can at least make things interesting over the final 11 games of the season.
Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud had a big day, completing 24 of 34 passes for 312 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence also had a big day in a losing effort. And Jacksonville’s Travis Hunter had a big day of his own, becoming just the fifth player in the Super Bowl era to have both an interception and a touchdown catch in the same game.
Now both teams head home, with the AFC South race looking different than it did when they made their trek to London.
So much for Jaguars cornerback Travis Hunter having his worst defensive game of the season.
With the Texans leading 31-28 late in the fourth quarter and driving for what could have been a game-clinching touchdown, Hunter stepped in front of a CJ Stroud pass and intercepted it to keep the Jaguars alive.
It was Stroud’s first interception of the season, and Hunter’s second.
Hunter had been burned in coverage on multiple occasions by Texans wide receiver Nico Collins, but he shook that off to make the big play when the Jaguars needed it most.
Hunter has also been making big plays on offense, with four catches for 59 yards and a touchdown.
The Jaguars are down by three points with three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
For most of this season, Jaguars two-way player Travis Hunter has been playing well at cornerback, and hardly playing at all at wide receiver. Today has been different.
Hunter is having by far his biggest game on offense, with four catches for 59 yards and a touchdown, as the Jaguars trail the Texans 31-28 in the fourth quarter. Heading into today, Hunter had just two catches for 17 yards and no touchdowns all season.
But on defense, Hunter has struggled. He got juked by Nico Collins to give up a 42-yard catch that led to one Texans touchdown, and his pass interference on Collins in the end zone set up another Texans touchdown. Stroud has been finding open receivers in the Jacksonville secondary all day.
It’s been a back-and-forth game, but the Texans have managed to hold the lead for most of it. C.J. Stroud has three touchdown passes, while Trevor Lawrence has four.
On the injury front, the Texans lost safety Reed Blankenship to a concussion, but linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair was evaluated for a concussion and cleared to return.
With 10 minutes to play, this crucial battle in the AFC South looks like it’s going down to the wire.
Last Sunday in London, the Eagles opted to put a kickoff in play with eight seconds left in the fourth quarter of a game against the Jaguars. This Sunday in London, the Texans opted to put a kickoff into the end zone with eight seconds left in the second quarter of a game against the Jaguars.
Both decisions were incorrect, because of the number of timeouts the Jaguars had in hand.
Last week, the Jaguars had no timeouts. It would have been difficult to complete a pass on the sidelines in field-goal range, since the Eagles could have guarded the boundaries and ignored the middle of the field.
This week, the Jaguars had two timeouts. Giving them the ball at the 35 nearly resulted in gaining enough yards to get in range for another long kick from Cam Little.
The throw from Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence to receiver Parker Washington at the Houston 46 was incomplete; Washington couldn’t control it before it hit the ground. If he’d made the catch, Little would have had a shot at a 63-yard game-tying field goal.
Yes, it would have been a very long kick. But Little has the leg to make it. Three weeks ago, Little missed a 70-yard try just before halftime not because it was short but because it was just wide to the right.
Obviously, there’s a chance that putting the kickoff in play would have resulted in a long return from the Jaguars. But this gets back to Mike Tomlin’s point that teams need to have the right special-teams players who can be trusted to make a tackle.
Regardless, giving the Jaguars the ball at the 35 with eight seconds and two timeouts created a very real risk of something far easier to accomplish than a long kick return. If the 19-yard throw had been completed, the game could be 17-17 entering the third quarter.
Jaguars running back Bhayshul Tuten has reached the end zone three times today, but only two of his touchdowns counted. Texans tight end Foster Moreau also has two touchdowns today, and a Texans field goal on top of it gives Houston a 17-14 lead at halftime.
A Tuten touchdown run was overturned on a bad holding call early in the game, a major error by the official that was particularly costly when the Jaguars came away with no points after a Trevor Lawrence interception on the same possession.
But in the second quarter, Tuten left no doubt when he caught two short Trevor Lawrence passes and scored on both of them. On the first, he winded his way through the Texans’ defense for a 27-yard touchdown. The second was easy, as the Texans left him open on second-and-goal for a two-yard touchdown.
The Texans’ passing game is also making plays. Texans wide receiver Jaylin Noel has two catches, one for 50 yards and one for 34 yards. Texans wide receiver Nico Collins burned Travis Hunter for a 42-yard gain, and later drew a pass interference penalty on Hunter in the end zone to give the Texans first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. Texans wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. made his first catch as a Texan, a 14-yarder over the middle in the second quarter.
But while the wide receivers are getting the big plays, it’s the tight end, Moreau, who is getting into the end zone. He has two touchdown catches, one from six yards out and one from one yard out.
The Texans have a couple of big injury concerns on defense, as linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair is being evaluated for a concussion, and safety Reed Blankenship was carted to the locker room late in the second quarter.
It’s been a tight, back-and-forth game with major implications for the AFC South.
