Jaguars-Bills: Star Offensive Player Ruled Out

The Jacksonville Jaguars will be without Evan Engram against the Buffalo Bills.

Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Evan Engram (17) wipes sweat during a combined NFL football training camp session between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Jacksonville Jaguars Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024 at EverBank Stadium’s Miller Electric Center in Jacksonville, Fla. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Jacksonville Jaguars will officially be without tight end Evan Engram against the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football.

Engram, who injured his hamstring during pre-game warmups before Week 2 vs. the Buffalo Bills, was ruled out on Saturday after missing practice throughout the week. It will be just the second game Engram has missed as a Jaguar.

“Evan, probably not going to make it. He tried this week, just not there yet. Hopefully next week, we’ll see," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said on Saturday.

In Engram's place will be second-year tight end Brenton Strange, who the Jaguars drafted in the second round last year. Strange stepped in for Engram last week and caught three passes for 65 yards.

“It’s interesting you brought that up because I’ve noticed it with Evan. I think it’s good for both players. Evan, just to see it from a different perspective, and then Brenton gets to kind of lean on Evan’s experience as a player," Pederson said about this week's set up.

"So, both guys have really benefited from this situation. Now, we’d love to have Evan out there and all that, but I think both have really handled it well. It’s big for Brenton to have a mentor like Evan.”

Jaguars running back Tank Bigsby, wide receiver Tim Jones, and safety Darnell Savage are listed as questionable. Pederson said Bigsby would play, but Savage appears up in the air.

"Darnell, we’ll give him one more day, today. See if he can push through it. Don’t want to risk anything further, but we’ll see where he’s at the end of the day," Pederson said.

"You always want to have good players, and he’s a good player. But last week didn’t feel like—next man up, and Jarrian [CB Jarrian Jones] went out there and he performed pretty well," Jaguars defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen said this week about Savage's abscence.

"As well as the group, thought we covered really well last week. But having him back, now we've got another guy out there who’s a good player and allows another guy to free up personnel packages and do things like that."

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