Jaguars Activate WR Jamal Agnew From NFI List
The Jacksonville Jaguars have activated wide receiver Jamal Agnew from the Active/Non-Football Injury list, the club announced Monday. Agnew had been placed on the list last Wednesday for an undisclosed reason.
The Jaguars receiver room had become bare. Practice squad receiver Josh Hammond and rookie undrafted free agent Josh Imatorbhebhe were both seen at practice on Saturday but without helmets. Neither practiced. Agnew worked off to the side, but never with the team.
The Jags added receiver Jeff Cotton as a result.
After Saturday's training camp practice, head coach Urban Meyer alluded to the need for more receiver bodies when explaining why the Jaguars cut kicker Aldrick Rosas.
"Rosas also had an injury that we had to make—we were down a couple at receiver so—I really liked Rosas, so not sure of the future. [General Manager] Trent [Baalke] and I will discuss that," Meyer told local reporters.
Agnew signed as a free agent this offseason and the plan is to primarily feature him as a return specialist. Said special teams coordinator Nick Sorensen of Agnew, “Oh he’s a special guy. I mean, he has speed, he’s got contact balance, he’s explosive, he’s tough. He’s everything you want in a returner. He’s secure with the ball and he can do a lot of things.”
The former defensive back turned receiver has really made his mark on the game as a returner on special teams, officially becoming a valuable piece in every phase. He spent his first four seasons in the NFL with the Detroit Lions, where he averaged 25.8 yards on kick returns and 11.6 yards on punt returns, scoring five touchdowns total as a specialist. Now getting to play not only under his former offensive coordinator again, Darrell Bevell, but also a head coach that prioritizes special teams is an idyllic situation for Agnew.
“It definitely means a lot to me just to know my skill set is being valued as it is. I feel like special teams is a very important aspect of the game and you don’t really realize that until something catastrophic happens. But I want to come in and be that spark. I want to bring the juice. I want to create energy plays, spark plays. I love doing that, that stuff’s fun to me,” he said back in March, after being signed as a free agent.
