Tyson Campbell‘s Week 1 injury will significant affect the Jaguars’ defense. The team is not going week-to-week with its recently extended cornerback, with ESPN’s Adam Schefter noting it will use IR in this case.
A hamstring injury sidelined Campbell, and while teams regularly keep players dealing with this type of injury on their active rosters, the issues often linger. The Jags will give Campbell at least four weeks to heal. He cannot return until Week 6.
Jacksonville has already used two of its eight allotted injury activations, having stashed safety Andrew Wingard and running back Keilan Robinson on IR upon setting its initial 53-man roster. Players placed on IR after that point do not immediately count against a team’s activation total, but those given return designations early — thanks to an offseason rule change — already do. Campbell returning in Week 6 or shortly thereafter would trim the Jags’ activation count to five.
The Jags have moved Tre Flowers back to their active roster, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. The veteran cornerback joined the team this offseason but did not land on the 53-man roster last month. Jacksonville still offered Flowers a practice squad spot and has now turned to the six-year vet as a reinforcement.
Campbell commanded a four-year, $76MM extension this summer, one that featured the Jags already handing out the two most lucrative deals in franchise history — to Trevor Lawrence and Josh Hines-Allen. Campbell’s contract included $31.4MM guaranteed at signing, but the deal’s structure calls for $27.7MM more (via an option bonus and a 2026 base salary guarantee) to be paid by March 2025. The Jags certainly have plenty of confidence in Campbell, a third-round pick in 2021.
This stings for a Jags team that blew a two-touchdown lead to the Dolphins in Week 1. The Jags released Darious Williams early this offseason and moved on from veteran slot corner Tre Herndon as well. The team already has an injury-prone CB starter, in free agency addition Ronald Darby.
Campbell’s setback will be a significant test for a team aiming to bounce back from a 2023 collapse. The Jags used rookie third-rounder Jarrian Jones and 2022 seventh-round pick Montaric Brown in part-time roles Sunday; they also drafted De’Antre Prince in Round 5. Darby and Flowers represent veteran presences, with the latter having played for new DC Ryan Nielsen last season in Atlanta.
So what kind of soup will Campbell choose to aid his recovery?