Jaguars left tackle Cam Robinson suffered a torn ACL against the Patriots and will miss the remainder of the season, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
Jacksonville is now 2-0 after defeating New England on Sunday, but the club’s path to the postseason will get a bit tougher with Robinson in tow. Given that the Jaguars rely so heavily on their rushing attack, losing any starting offensive lineman for a significant period of time would present a challenge.
With Robinson out, the Jaguars will turn to fifth-year pro Josh Wells to fill in on Blake Bortles‘ blindside. Wells, 27, has appeared in 34 games during his career, including 15 a year ago. He made four starts in 2017, filling in at both tackle spots while playing on roughly 44% of Jacksonville’s offensive snaps.
While Jacksonville could theoretically look to the free agent market for reinforcements, there simply aren’t many high-quality offensive tackles readily available. At present, the list of free agent tackles includes middling-to-poor options such as Will Beatty, Cyrus Kouandjio, Austin Pasztor, Rees Odhiambo, and Don Barclay.
Robinson, 22, was the Jaguars’ second-round pick in 2017, and started 15 games during his rookie campaign. He was part of an offensive line that also included free agent acquisition Andrew Nowell at left guard, plus center Brandon Linder, right guard A.J. Cann, and right tackle Jermey Parnell.