Jaguars Place Tavon Austin on IR, Add Lauletta to Practice Squad
The Jacksonville Jaguars made a series of roster moves on Thursday, adding a backup quarterback and bringing on a tight end, while sending a receiver to Injured Reserve.
Austin, who progressed from a mid-camp body signing to making the 53-man roster this week, will now go to IR for a quad injury. On Wednesday, Head Coach Urban Meyer indicated he believed Austin would be ready for Week 1 against the Houston Texans. However now Austin won't be eligible to return until Week 3.
The Jags added quarterback Kyle Lauletta and tight end Matt Sokol to the practice squad. Jacksonville had initially waived second year quarterback Jake Luton and second year tight end Ben Ellefson, and both were claimed before the Jags could add the two back to their practice squad. Luton was picked up by the Seattle Seahawks, immediately signing on to their 53-man roster. Ellefson—who Meyer said on Tuesday they were going to try to keep before he was claimed—was picked up by the Minnesota Vikings after that team lost tight end Irv Smith for the season to injury.
Thus the club needed practice squad bodies in both positions. Lauletta was originally drafted in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. After one game in which he finished with a passer rating of 0.0, Lauletta was waived the following offseason. He spent time on practice squads with the Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons and most recently, the Cleveland Browns.
During the first preseason game, while still with the Browns, Lauletta actually faced the Jaguars. In that Browns win, Lauletta went 19-27 for 212 yards and two touchdowns.
Sokol entered the league in 2019, signing an undrafted free agent contract with the Los Angeles Chargers. Sokol actually spent a few weeks on the Jaguars practice squad in 2019. After a quick practice squad sting with the Detroit Lions, he returned to the Chargers and was elevated to the active roster for the final two games of the 2020 season. He recorded no stats in those two games.
By moving Austin to IR, the Jaguars have an open spot on the active roster. And there is still one remaining spot on the practice squad.
On Tuesday, Meyer said there were still plans for the tight end position.
“That was tough because Tyler Davis really came on near the end. We’re going to try to keep him," Meyer revealed on Tuesday. "We still don’t have that. [James] O'Shaughnessy’s our best receiver right now. Luke [Farrell]’s coming on. I like that position. I love who they are, but we still need to get one more at some point.”
