2:53pm: The Jaguars have indeed placed Robinson on injured reserve per the transactions wire, meaning he will be sidelined for at least four weeks. With five IR activations remaining on the season, Jacksonville will comfortably be able to return him to the lineup when he has recovered.

2:06pm: The Jaguars managed to secure a pivotal win in Week 12, but they lost a key member of their offensive front in the process. Left tackle Cam Robinson suffered a knee injury, and it appears poised to keep him sidelined for an intermediate stretch.

Robinson is dealing with a knee injury which has a recovery timeline of three-to-six weeks, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports. That makes the veteran a candidate to be placed on injured reserve, a move which would guarantee at least a four-week absence. Any missed time will be signficant for Jacksonville’s offense as the team looks to maintain its lead in the AFC South down the stretch.

The 28-year-old missed the beginning of the campaign while serving a four-game PED suspension. He managed to play every game from Week 5 on, though, until the knee injury sidelined him in Sunday’s win over the Texans. Robinson has been charged with three sacks allowed this season, leading to an overall PFF grade of 63.5.

That figure falls in line with many of his other evaluations over the course of his career. Robinson has never earned Pro Bowl acclaim but the Jaguars have remained committed to him on the blindside for seven years and counting. That includes the latest contract he agreed to with Jacksonville, a three-year, $52.75MM deal signed in 2022. The pact calls for a cap hit of $21.6MM next year, so having Robinson healthy by that point will be a signficant priority for the team.

Before then, it will be interesting to see how quickly the former second-rounder can return to the lineup. Robinson was shut down for the season last year due to a meniscus tear, and the Jags’ O-line was shorthanded through their playoff run as a result. Recovering in time for the 2023 postseason is feasible with the latest injury occurring in November, but Robinson’s status will nevertheless be worth monitoring.

In his absence, Jacksonville shifted Walker Little from left guard to left tackle on Sunday. The latter started on the blindside during Robinson’s suspension to begin the campaign, so a repeat of that setup would come as no surprise. Jacksonville lost interior depth last week with Ben Bartch departing from the practice squad to join the 49ers. Little moving outside could open up a starting spot at guard for Ezra Cleveland, whom the Jaguars acquired at the trade deadline.

Details have emerged regarding the PED suspension Cam Robinson will serve to begin the 2023 season. The Jaguars tackle will be sidelined for four games to start the year, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link).

News of the Robinson ban came out in April, but it was not known at that point how many contests he would miss. Today’s update clarifies the challenge Jacksonville will face along the offensive line, a unit which already saw the departure of Jawaan Taylor to the Chiefs in free agency.

The loss of Taylor left the Jaguars in need of a notable O-line investment in the draft, something which came in Round 1 in the form of Anton Harrison. The latter was likely to play on the right side upon Robinson’s return, but there is a path for him to spend the first month of his rookie campaign at his familiar left tackle spot. Harrison made all but one of his starts at Oklahoma on the blindside.

Jacksonville also has Walker Little in place as a more experienced LT option. The former second-rounder has made 28 regular and postseason appearances to date, spending most of his time at left tackle. If the team elects to ease Harrison into the pro game (or keep him at right tackle in preparation for when Robinson returns) the Stanford product could see a starting blindside role in the fall.

For Robinson individually, this news carries signficant financial consequences. As Schefter’s colleague Field Yates tweets, the 27-year-old will lose $3.55MM in salary due to the missed time, and the remaining guaranteed money on his deal will void. Robinson signed a three-year, $52.75MM extension in 2022 which called for his $16MM 2023 base salary to be guaranteed in full. That figure will rise to a non-guaranteed $16.25MM next season, while his cap hit will remain above $22MM as is the case this year.

The Jaguars have remained committed to the Alabama product despite his less-than-spectacular performances throughout his career. His return to the lineup will no doubt be welcomed when it takes place, but the absence of guranteed money in the final year of his contract could spark new questions about his long-term future with the team. Robinson will miss games against the Colts, Chiefs, Texans and Falcons while serving his suspension. He will be eligible to return in Week 5, the Jaguars’ second straight London matchup when they play the Bills.

The Jaguars finished last season without their starting left tackle. They will need to start the 2023 slate in the same position. Cam Robinson is facing a performance-enhancing drug suspension, according to SI.com’s John Shipley.

It is not yet known how many games Robinson will miss as a result of this ban. The CBA calls for varying punishments for certain types of PEDs, or for tampering with a drug sample; the Jags will be without Robinson for a minimum of two games.

Jacksonville has used Robinson as its Week 1 blindside starter since his rookie season in 2017. Robinson missed the conclusion to the 2018 and 2022 seasons due to injury, but the Alabama product — now the Jags’ longest-tenured offensive lineman — has taken his place on the left side for the past six seasons. In total, Robinson has started all 75 games he has played since entering the league as a second-round pick.

Although the Jags navigated a Robinson absence in their final five games last season, they still employed Jawaan Taylor at that point. The 2019 second-round pick did not miss a game during his four-year Jags run. The Chiefs signed Taylor on Day 1 of the legal tampering period last month. Robinson’s suspension now complicates matters. Walker Little, a 2021 second-round pick who filled in for Robinson to close last season, will likely be asked to begin the season as a starter.

Little (six career starts) stood to factor into the Jags’ equation regardless of Robinson’s suspension, but the team has also been connected to starting its draft with an O-line investment. Jacksonville holds the No. 24 pick Thursday night. The team brought back Josh Wells in free agency, but the former Jags backup-turned-Buccaneers swingman is recovering from a torn patellar tendon. Robinson was expected to be healthy after suffering a meniscus tear; he will have additional time to complete his recovery now.

Robinson, 27, is tied to the three-year, $52.75MM extension he signed in 2022. The Jags franchise-tagged the former Crimson Tide standout for a second time last year, leading to the lucrative re-up. While Robinson’s 2023 base salary ($16MM) is guaranteed, this suspension threatens to void the remaining guarantees on the deal. The contract runs through the 2024 season.

DECEMBER 24: Removing doubt about Robinson’s availability later this season, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweets that he will undergo surgery to repair the torn meniscus. As a result, he will go on IR and begin the three- to four-month recovery process. That timeline should allow him to be at full health in time for the beginning of the 2023 campaign.

DECEMBER 19: The Jaguars continued their push for a playoff spot during yesterday’s comeback win over the Cowboys, but their offensive line will be shorthanded moving forward. When speaking to the media on Monday, head coach Doug Pederson said that left tackle Cam Robinson has a meniscus injury and will “probably” miss the remainder of the season (video link).

Robinson’s ACL is intact, Pederson added, after he was injured during yesterday’s game. Still, the news is substantial for Jacksonville, given his importance to their offensive front. Robinson had once again been a full-time starter on the blindside this season, as he has since being drafted by the Jaguars in 2017. Pederson praised his level of play this year, which has yielded a PFF grade of 67.2, the second-highest of his career.

The Alabama product has never been considered a top-tier left tackle, but the Jaguars placed the franchise tag on him for the second time this offseason. That would have locked him into a one-year salary of $16.6MM, but it became clear not long after that decision was made that a multi-year deal was in the works. In April, the 27-year-old signed a three-year, $54MM extension.

That move represented one of many made over the course of the spring aimed at upgrading the Jaguars’ offense, including big-ticket free agent deals handed out to guard Brandon Scherff and wideout Christian Kirk. They have helped the team rank 10th in both passing and rushing yards per game, and seventh in total offense. That, in turn, has allowed the Jaguars to win three of their last four games and, at 6-8, move to within one game of the Titans for the AFC South lead.

With Robinson sidelined for, presumably, the remainder of the regular season at a minimum, Walker Little is expected to take over at left tackle. The 2021 second-rounder has operated as a swing tackle this season, seeing only 51 offensive snaps to date. That would allow Jawaan Taylor to remain in place at right tackle, as the team tries to overcome Robinson’s loss in the closing stages of the campaign.

As the draft draws closer, many continue to believe the Jaguars will use the No. 1 pick on an edge rusher. While there are a pair of offensive line prospects who could also be in consideration, the presence of left tackle Cam Robinson could turn their attention away from the likes of Evan Neal or Ikem Ekwonu. 

[RELATED: Jaguars Considering Four Prospects At No. 1]

Pro Football Network’s Tony Pauline reports that “the Jags are close to signing [Robinson] to a long-term extension”. The 26-year-old was franchise tagged for the second time last month, guaranteeing that he would be in Jacksonville for at least the 2022 campaign. He has started all 61 games he has played in across five seasons in Duval County.

His level of play during that span, however, left many believing the tag would be a short-term move to buy time for a replacement. His 67.4 PFF grade in 2021 ranked 48th out of 83 qualifying tackles, far lower than where his compensation ranks at the position. The $16.6MM value of the tag would put him in a tie for eighth in terms of left tackle salaries, if he were to remain unsigned beyond 2022.

Pauline further states that “an announcement could come soon” regarding a new deal for Robinson. If that were to happen, it would give the team more certainty along an offensive line which has added All-Pro guard Brandon Scherff this offseason. It would also increase the chances of either Aidan Hutchinson or Travon Walker hearing their name called first on Thursday even further.