Jaguars vs. Rams: James Robinson Active, Shaquill Griffin and DaVon Hamilton Inactive
The Jacksonville Jaguars will be taking on one of the NFL's highest-powered offenses without two defensive starters on Sunday afternoon, with both cornerback Shaquill Griffin and nose tackle DaVon Hamilton both among the team's inactives vs. the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.
The following Jaguars will be inactive and thus unavailable for the 2-9 Jaguars against the 7-4 Rams at 4:05 p.m.
- CB Shaquill Griffin
- NT DaVon Hamilton
- IOL KC McDermott
- TE Jacob Hollister
- DE/OLB Jordan Smith
This is the second week in a row the Jaguars will be without Griffin, the team's No. 1 cornerback whom they signed to a three-year, $40 million deal in March. Griffin started the first 10 games of the year for the Jaguars and frequently took the assignment of following the opposing team'st top wideout which, in this scenario, would be Cooper Kupp.
Griffin has started 10 games for the Jaguars this season, recording 36 tackles, five pass deflections, and one forced fumble in his first season with the team. Griffin left the first half of the Jaguars' Week 11 game against the San Francisco 49ers with a concussion and then missed Week 12 due to being in concussion protocol.
Griffin will now miss his second game as the Jaguars look to rookie cornerback Tyson Campbell to fill in as their No. 1 cornerback, one week after Campbell had the best game of his rookie year in that same role against the Falcons, recording his first career interception and three pass breakups.
“Well, it was really encouraging. We all thought, I think everybody saw the same thing, I mean, he had his best game of his short career," Jaguars defensive coordinator Joe Cullen said about Campbell on Thursday.
"He attacked the football, he was coming up, making tackles, great play on the interception. He continues to get better every week. He was fighting through—you know, everyone this time of year has the bruises and the nicks and all that stuff—so he was fighting through that and I thought he did a great job. The coaches, Coach [Tim] Walton and Coach [Joe] Danna are doing a great job with those guys back there, the corners. So, we’re really excited about where he’s going.”
Aside from Griffin, the Jaguars will also be missing starting nose tackle DaVon Hamilton. Hamilton wasn't listed on the team's game status report for this weekend but the second-year defensive lineman has dealt with a toe injury this week, popping up on the injury report throughout the week.
Hamilton has been one of the Jaguars' best defenders in 2021, but the team will have fourth-round rookie Jay Tufele on hand to help replace his reps after the rookie defensive tackle was activated from the injured reserve on Saturday.
While the Jaguars not having a few starters on hand is far from good news, the Jaguars can take solace in the fact that they will have James Robinson on hand vs. the Rams.
Robinson has been dealing with injuries since he left the first quarter of the Jaguars' Week 8 loss to the Seattle Seahawks with a heel/knee injury. He missed Week 9 before becoming a game-time decision over the next two weeks. Robinson was listed as questionable entering Sunday but the second-year start will be on the field for the Jaguars.
Robinson has rushed for 654 yards (5.1 yards per carry) and seven touchdowns this season, including 17 carries for 86 yards and three cathces for 29 yards last weekend against the Falcons.
"Yeah, you have to give James [Robinson] a lot of credit, he is not 100%. I hate to use the terms, but he is a warrior and he is fighting through the heel and the knee," Jaguars offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said Thursday.
"He is out there for his teammates and he is doing the best that he can. His best is pretty good [and] we know that he has more in it when he is fully healthy, but I love the competitiveness that he’s showing.”
