Jaguars coach Mike Mularkey’s Mondays are starting to resemble a less amusing Groundhog Day.
Every week he comes to the podium to answer questions about how the team will find a second win this season, something that’s hard enough when he doesn’t also have to rule out the team’s best player before the week of practice even starts. Gene Frenette of the Florida Times-Union reports that Mularkey did that for the third straight week this Monday, which means Jones-Drew will not be available for this Sunday’s game against the Texans.
While Mularkey did express some hope that Jones-Drew would be able to return this week, the running back said that he was about two weeks away at the end of last week. Whether he’s able to make it back to play in Week 12 against the Titans will likely hinge on how much he’s able to do in practice between now and Nov. 25. Given the length of the layoff, the Jaguars would likely want to be sure Jones-Drew’s foot was up to the work before throwing him out there in a game.
The Jaguars offense has missed Jones-Drew, although it’s hard to say that his presence would have led to different results in any of the team’s last three games. They’ve been outscored 82-39 in those games which indicates that Jacksonville is missing more than a running back.