Jaguars Injury Update: Laviska Shenault Misses Thursday's Practice

Laviska Shenault missed his second practice of the week, putting the rookie receiver's availability in question for Sunday vs. the Steelers.

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Laviska Shenault did not practice on Thursday due to his hamstring injury, the second practice he has missed this week due to the injury. 

The rookie receiver has been one of Jacksonville's most explosive and versatile players on offense this season, so not having him available against the stingy Pittsburgh Steelers' secondary isn't exactly ideal for the 1-9 Jaguars.

Shenault has caught 30 passes for 323 yards (both third on the team) and one touchdown in eight games this season. The No. 42 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Shenault has also carried the ball 11 times for 54 yards (4.9 yards per carry).

Shenault didn't play in Week 10 against the Green Bay Packers due to the hamstring injury, an injury he sustained in Week 9 against the Houston Texans. Shenault played just 10 snaps against Houston before leaving with the injury, resulting in Chris Conley taking his spot in the offense. Conley has the second-most snaps of all receivers on the team in the last two weeks, trailing only DJ Chark.

"He’s been great about it. He’s been a total pro about how he’s handled this year. He could’ve obviously gone on and tanked or become an issue on and off the field, but he’s one of the hardest working players we have in practice, if not the hardest," Jaguars offensive coordinator Jay Gruden said this week about Conley.

"He hasn’t griped a little bit. We’ve had some conversations about his role and his role is very critical to this football team, being a receiver, understanding all three positions, and being able to fill in whenever asked. He’s made some big plays in every game this year and he’s going to continue to do it, so we’re very pleased with Chris, his leadership and his ability to take on whatever role we ask of him.”

Also included on Jacksonville's Thursday injury report was rookie cornerback CJ Henderson. Henderson missed practiced with a groin injury, the report states, and the Jaguars announced on Thursday that Henderson had been placed on injured reserve. 

Henderson has started eight games at cornerback this season, serving as Jacksonville's primary No. 1 outside cornerback. With him on IR, the Jaguars will have to turn to Chris Claybrooks, Tre Herndon, Sidney Jones, and potentially a returning D.J. Hayden. Hayden was designated to return from IR on Thursday and practiced on a limited basis.

Tight end James O'Shaughnessy also missed Thursday's practice, his second missed practice of the week as well. He has yet to practice this week. 

Meanwhile, the Jaguars had most of their same players listed as limited that they did the previous day. There were three exceptions: Tyler Eifert was limited after having a scheduled day off on Wednesday, and Cam Robinson and Brandon Linder were full participants in Thursday's practice after each was limited on Wednesday. 

Here is the following list of players who were limited for Thursday's practice, with running back James Robinson being the most notable:

• QB Gardner Minshew II (right thumb)
• LB Dakota Allen (ankle)
• RB Devine Ozigbo (hamstring)
• RB James Robinson (shoulder)
• CB Sidney Jones IV (achilles)
• WR Collin Johnson (hamstring)
• DE Josh Allen (hip)
• TE Tyler Eifert (shoulder)