Jacksonville's Linebacker Unit Hitting Injury Snag Just as it Started to Find a Groove

The Jacksonville Jaguars are 3-4 and entering a pivotal Week 8 home game against the New York Jets on Sunday. Lose and they potentially fall two games back in the division. Win and they are still in the thick of the AFC South race. 

But in Sunday's must-win game, the Jaguars are likely going to be without three linebackers, two of whom have started multiple games for the Jaguars at weakside linebacker. Najee Goode (toe), Leon Jacobs (hamstring) and Quincy Williams (hamstring) all missed Wednesday's practice with injuries, and Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone didn't exactly have a positive prognosis: 

"So, obviously when you bring that many players in it’ll probably listed as doubtful that any of those other three will be ready to play this week even though they’re obviously going to try," Marrone said Wednesday. "We’ll see what happens."

In their place, the Jaguars will have to rely on:

• Joe Giles-Harris, an undrafted free agent who was added to the active roster off of the practice squad on Monday. 
• Malcolm Smith, a journeyman linebacker who had not been with a team since getting cut by the San Francisco 49ers in August. He signed with Jacksonville on Tuesday.
• Donald Payne, a third-year player who spent two years with Jacksonville as a special teams player before being waived this May. He signed with Jacksonville on Tuesday.

"We brought Donald Payne back who will be able to help us. [He] knows the system special teams-wise," Marrone said. "And then Malcolm Smith, another veteran player who’s played in this system."

It is unclear who will start alongside middle linebacker Myles Jack if Goode and Williams are each out since backup linebacker D.J. Alexander was also injured in Week 7 against the Cincinnati Bengals and was then placed on the reserve/injured list. 

Regardless of who does start Sunday, the injuries strike Jacksonville's linebacker unit at the absolute worst time. For weeks the team was stricken by poor linebacker play, including a diaster game against the Carolina Panthers in Week 5 where the team allowed 285 rushing yards and 10.6 yards per carry.  

But in the last two weeks, that simply changed. Jack turned around his early-season struggles to put forth his two best performances of the year in Weeks 6 & 7. Goode stepped into the starting lineup for a struggling Williams in Week 6 against the New Orleans Saints and made an instant impact in the defense before going down with an injury three plays into the Bengals game. 

Williams, who had a number of issues that forced him to the bench during the final quarter of the Panthers game and kept him there for the entirety of the Saints game, also has showed recent signs of improvement. He turned in his best performance of the season against the Bengals after Goode went down, showing vast improvement in his ability to diagnose plays and maintain gap integrity. 

As for Leon Jacobs, the team's strongside linebacker who only sees the field when the defense is not in a nickel package, the injury halts what had been a strong sophomore season, one in which he had recorded a sack, tackle for loss and two quarterback hits. 

Simply put, the Jaguars linebackers were struggling for weeks, and right when it seemed they had finally turned things around they caught the injury bug. 

To make sure the reshuffling of the roster's linebackers doesn't hurt the Jaguars' defense against the Jets, the Jaguars' coaching staff will have to put their new linebackers on a preparation fast track.

"We have to do a good job of coaching those guys, we have to get them up to speed, we have to get them ready and get them ready to go," Marrone said. 

"Like anything else, obviously New York’s coming down. We’re concentrating on ourselves."