BREAKING: Jaguars Make Massive Change to Josh Hines-Allen's Week 18 Status

The Jacksonville Jaguars will be without their top defensive end in Week 18.

Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen (41) runs on the field before an NFL football matchup Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Jacksonville Jaguars will be without star defensive end Josh Hines-Allen in their season finale vs. the Indianapolis Colts.

The Jaguars announced Saturday that Hines-Allen would not travel to Indianapolis due to personal reasons.

This now means that Hines-Allen's 2024 season is officially over. In 16 games, Hines-Allen recorded eight sacks, 10 tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and 19 quarterback hits. Sunday will be the first game Hines-Allen has missed since the 2021 season.

Hines-Allen and Travon Walker hit big heights again in 2024, giving the Jaguars a pair of edge rushters they can continue to build around in the future.

“When the two of them [DE Josh Hines-Allen and DE Travon Walker] are playing good—I think last week too, the pressure rate was high, one of the higher rates we’ve had. May not have the sack numbers, but the pressure rates, that’s also important to note," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said this week. "But when those two guys are playing and playing at a high level, it makes it hard on quarterbacks, it makes it hard on offensive linemen, tackles. This year, coming in, learning a new scheme, some new technique things, takes a little time, and they’re working through that as the season has gone on. But you get in those known passing situations, you just want to cut these guys loose and let them go play.”

"From the numbers standpoint, that’s impressive. But it feels like, I think because of where we are as a team, it kind of gets—it’s overshadowed. But that’s, again, that’s another bright spot with this team, I think with the defense, especially those two players and what we drafted both of them to do, obviously. Again, there’s definitely more for them to get, and I think that’s the exciting part as you look ahead to the future.”

With Hines-Allen set to not play, the Jaguars will activate defensive end Joe Gaziano after signing him to the practice squad earlier this week.

The Jaguars will close out their disappointing 2024 season against the Colts at 1 p.m. on Sunday, giving them one more chance to build some positive momentum to carry with them into the offseason.

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