Duke in the NFL update, preseason week four

Seven Blue Devils were in action as teams wrapped up their preseason schedules.

NFL teams usually rest their starters during the fourth and final week of NFL preseason and focus on playing guys on the bubble for the roster.

As a result, a large number of former Duke players, whose jobs are secure, didn’t play on Thursday night. That group included Ravens center Matt Skura, Jets receiver Jamison Crowder and 49ers offensive lineman Laken Tomlinson.

Redskins running back Shaun Wilson also sat out on Thursday, missing his second straight game after suffering an ankle injury in preseason week two. He’s likely looking at an injury settlement or trip to the I.R. when Washington makes its cuts over the weekend.

Two players thought to be on the roster bubble also didn’t play. Panthers defensive back Ross Cockrell sat out Carolina’s game against the Steelers. With the team’s lack of depth in the secondary, he’s likely secured a spot on the team.

The Packers sitting offensive lineman Lucas Patrick was a more puzzling decision. He was thought to be battling Justin McCray for the final reserve spot on the offensive line. Instead, Patrick had a DNP while McCray started and played 55 snaps.

Seven former Blue Devils played on Thursday night. The most newsworthy of them was quarterback Daniel Jones, who got the start for the Giants.

Jones played a total of nine snaps and did nothing to quell the building fan and media frenzy over his outstanding preseason. He went 4-for-4 passing for 47 yards, with a passer rating of 115.6. He had a long pass of 23 yards, didn’t throw a touchdown or interception and didn’t attempt a rush.

For the preseason, Jones was 29-of-34 (.853 completion rate) for 416 yards with two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 137.3 passer rating.

Jones earned praise from receiver Golden Tate, who said Jones had “quietly become a leader.”

Jaguars linebacker Joe Giles-Harris finished off a strong preseason for the undrafted rookie. He started at weakside linebacker and led the team with four solo tackles. His five total tackles were second most. He added a special teams tackle. He did get flagged for unnecessary roughness on one tackle. Giles-Harris was in for 48 snaps on defense and 17 on special teams.

Jaguars teammate Breon Borders also started, playing left cornerback. He had a pass breakup on a third-down pass the only time he was targeted. Borders had 17 plays on defense and 9 on special teams.

Rookie receiver Johnathan Lloyd (pictured above, courtesy USA Today) was targeted twice in the Rams’ final preseason game. He had a 19-yard catch and an incompletion on a third down play. Lloyd also picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. He had 30 snaps on offense and eight on special teams.

Tight end Daniel Helm was targeted three times in the 49ers game, getting two catches for 16 yards. Helm has a 12-yard catch, getting two yards after the catch and reaching the one-yard line, setting up a touchdown. Helm also downed two punts on special teams. On the negative side, he picked up a false start penalty. Helm was in on 50 offensive snaps and 16 on special teams.

Dolphins receiver TJ Rahming was targeted once in his 12 snaps on offense, getting a 15 yard catch with an impressive 12 yards after catch to produce a first down. In his four special teams snaps, he had two punt returns, for 0 and 7 yards and fair caught two other punts.

Jets long snapper Thomas Hennessy had 10 special teams plays in New York’s game.

The Duke Gang now waits for teams to make their cuts.