Jaguars Safety Andrew Wingard Designated to Return From IR

One of the Jaguars' most important depth pieces could be back on the field soon, weeks after he went on IR with a core muscle injury.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will be getting one of their most important special teams and depth players back from injured reserve in the coming weeks, the team announced Wednesday. 

Free safety Andrew Wingard was designated to return from the reserve/injured list and is now eligible to participate in practice. Wingard was placed on IR on Oct. 12 with a core muscle injury, leaving a void in Jacksonville's secondary depth chart. 

Wingard has not played since Week 5. With an injury to Jarrod Wilson in Week 7, the Jaguars were forced to turn to third-string free safety Brandon Watson in a 39-29 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Now, it looks as if Wingard will be back on the field on Sundays sooner than later.

"In 2020, NFL clubs are permitted to return an unlimited number of players from either the club’s Reserve/Injured List or from its Reserve/Non-Football Injury/Illness List to the club’s 53-player Active/Inactive List," the Jaguars said in a statement.

"To be eligible for return, a player cannot begin to practice until three weeks have elapsed since the date he was placed on a reserve list, and the player cannot return to the Active/Inactive List until three games have elapsed since the date he was placed on Reserve/Injured.

Wingard is regarded as one of Jacksonville's best special teams players, if not the best overall. He also serves as the team's No. 3 safety when healthy, stepping into the defense whenever a starter is down. 

An undrafted free agent who made the roster as a rookie in 2019, Wingard has appeared in five games in his second season with the Jaguars. He has started three of those games, recording 25 tackles, an interception and two pass deflections this season.

The Jaguars also announced on Wednesday that they signed free safety Douglas Middleton to the practice squad. Middleton appeared in the last two games on special teams.