Doug Marrone Provides Week 9 Injury Updates on Jack, Eifert and Wilson

The Jacksonville Jaguars will likely have three key starters back in the lineup when they host the Houston Texans in Week 9, head coach Doug Marrone said on Monday.

The 1-6 Jaguars and 1-6 Texans will be battling to step out of the cellar of the AFC South on Sunday, but the Jaguars will luckily get a likely boost to both defense and offense via the returns of linebacker Myles Jack, tight end Tyler Eifert and free safety Jarrod Wilson.

“Myles Jack practiced limited today. I think he’ll be back; I think he’ll play. [Tyler] Eifert’s going to play, he’s fine and Jarrod [Wilson] right now is scheduled to play. All three are scheduled to play," Marrone said Monday, giving a positive injury update for a team that badly needed one.

None of the three players appeared in Jacksonville's Week 7 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Jack missed the game with an ankle injury, an injury that has hobbled him since Week 4 and has caused him to miss one other game this season. Eifert was sidelined with a neck injury, while Wilson missed Week 7 with a hamstring injury.

One of the NFL's best linebackers this season, Jack is third on the team in tackles (41), while also recording a sack, an interception and two tackles for loss. Jack missed Week 5 with an ankle injury and left Week 6 with the injury, but he has been dominant when healthy.

Eifert hasn't made the impact on Jacksonville's offense that many hoped he would (11 catches for 93 yards and one touchdown on 23 targets), but the Jaguars lack depth behind him. The team has struggled to get much production from the tight end position yet again, in part due to Eifert suffering some injuries.

“I thought we did well in the training camp and then things didn’t turn out the way they did in the games," Marrone said Monday.

"I think Ben Ellefson has been a surprise, probably in the Y for us. I think you’ll see him more in there as the Y. He’s done a nice job. I think Tyler [Eifert]’s had a couple weeks now to rest and James [O'Shaughnessy] is coming back from a little bit of rest, we limit him, so we’re hoping to get that going. Obviously, it wasn’t what we had planned. We wanted more production and obviously you can pretty much say that across the board, but I’m really hoping those guys start to come on because that would really help us.”

Wilson has missed most of the season with a hamstring injury, recording 13 tackles and an interception in three games. Jacksonville's pass defense has struggled with Wilson out of the lineup, so getting him back at free safety could serve as an impactful move for the backend of the defense.