Jaguars Release Four Defensive Players As 2021 Roster Begins To Take Shape
The Jacksonville Jaguars have released four players, the club announced Tuesday morning. They are linebacker Nate Evans, linebacker Joe Giles-Harris, corner Nate Meadors and safety Doug Middleton.
The move comes after the team drafted ten players in the NFL Draft and signed six undrafted free agents. With the release of the four players, the roster now sits at 90.
Evans, the former UCF linebacker, was signed as an undrafted free agent following last year’s draft and spent one year with the team. He posted no stats during that time and spent the season on the practice squad. The club signed him to a futures contract following the conclusion of the 2020 regular season.
Middle linebacker Joe Schobert said of Evans back in September, “Nate, first off, he’s a great kid. He comes in ready to work and learn every day…I’ve been impressed by him and Shaq[uille] [Quarterman], how they came in and worked and understood the defense.
“Even at this point, even with some veterans, the calls start to stack up when you put your whole playbook in at once and every single call’s up and running, and he’s been able to do a good job staying on top of his thing. Obviously, there’s mistakes that are made but you can learn from it. What he’s shown is when you get to game plan week, when the playbook gets limited down a little bit, he’s going to be ready to go if he’s needed.”
Giles-Harris was put on the gameday roster on November 7 and November 14, before officially being promoted to the active roster on November 21 for the remainder of the season. He appeared in seven games total, accumulating 14 tackles, seven quarterback pressures, a sack and two hurries, according to Pro Football Focus.
Former Head Coach Doug Marrone was impressed with Giles-Harris as he was thrown into the defense amongst injuries.
“He’s really done a great job. I mean, he’s made plays just by knowing what to do, just by doing his job. I don’t want to say ‘shocked’, I don’t want to say that, because that’s criticizing the player. I mean, he’s worked extremely hard,” Marrone said in mid-December.
“And he’s gotten himself an opportunity and he’s taking advantage of it. You’ve seen him pull people up … you’ve seen him with good eyes, he’s a smart football player. You saw a little pass rush out of him last week, with his speed-to-power move that got to the quarterback on the sack. So, we’ve been really, really happy with that and I don’t know—again, he’s one of those guys I chalk up. He’s always worked, he’s always done anything, got an opportunity and kind of took advantage of it. And I’m happy to see where it goes for him.”
The Jaguars are theoretically set at linebacker, with middle linebacker Joe Schobert and WILL linebacker Myles Jack, along with Leon Jacobs who is set to return from injury.
Meadors joined the Jaguars practice squad after being released by the Minnesota Vikings, the team that signed him as UDFA in 2019. He was elevated to the gameday roster against the Vikings before reverting back to the practice squad. He signed a futures contract with the team in January.
Middleton was originally signed to the Jaguars practice squad late in the 2019 season, after being released by the Miami Dolphins. He was elevated to the active roster for one game with no stats. The club released Middleton before the 2020 season and after a tryout with the Tennessee Titans, the Jags signed Middleton back to the practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster in the beginning of October, beginning a dance of roster moves throughout the season that saw Middleton appear in 10 games, posting nine tackles and no passes defended.
