How Sauce Gardner's Injury Will Affect Jaguars' Offensive Game Plan

The Jacksonville Jaguars are heading toward perhaps the most important game they'll play in the entire 2025 NFL regular season. In Week 14, they host the Indianapolis Colts. These two divisional rivals have yet to meet this year, but they've played their other opponents virtually to a draw up to this point, as both sit at 8-4 going into their first head-to-head clash.

The onus will be on the Jaguars' defense to slow down the Colts' attack, which has proven to be one of the most effective units in the league so far. However, Jacksonville has to be prepared for a potential shootout on the other side of the ball. This team might need Trevor Lawrence and Co. to answer the call and lead them to a victory in a firefight. Thankfully, they're getting a big break in Week 14.

Indianapolis Colts, NFL, Houston Texans, Sauce Gardner — Indianapolis Colts cornerback Sauce Gardner (1) is helped off the field following an injury Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, during a game against the Houston Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. | Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Sauce Gardner doubtful for divisional showdown

Sauce Gardner exited the Indianapolis Colts' loss to the Houston Texans in Week 13 after suffering what looked like a non-contact calf injury. The team has ruled out putting their new star cornerback on IR, which means he should be back within four games, but he's listed as doubtful for Sunday's bout with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Colts have gotten to 8-4 largely behind the strength of their offense. Their defense had been a middle-of-the-pack unit all year, leading them to trade a haul to the New York Jets in exchange for Gardner, in hopes of improving a secondary that had proven to be a glaring weakness for Indy. Now, they have to try to beat the Jaguars in a crucial road game without him. Offensive Coordinator Grant Udinski outlined how his absence might affect the Colts' game plan:

Sauce Gardner non contact injury

He’s now being escorted into the locker room limping pic.twitter.com/rplerb7XFg
— Benchwarmer Sports (@bdubsports_) November 30, 2025

"Well, there's certainly always an adjustment when you have an injury, but I think it's pretty rare for an offense or a defense to totally scrap an identity. So, if a team is playing man coverage and they lose a guy who was a great man defender, they still had four other guys on the field who were really high-level at executing man coverage. Same thing, when you have zone guys and different guys who are great pressure players or different rushers. They've lost a great rusher, but they still can run some of those same pressures or same rush patterns that they were running when Buckner [DeForest Buckner] was in there. So, you don't lose kind of the identity."

"I think that you kind of make adjustments typically. Now, everybody's different. So, it's kind of week-to-week based on the game plan. How much do you need to adjust based on missing that guy? It's the same thing for us when you miss a wideout. Some games you may have heavily relied on that guy because the matchups presented themselves favorably for that guy, and then some weeks you kind of move along, business as usual, because running your normal core plays or running things within the flow of the game, you don't need to change. So, it is a little bit week to week, but I don't think you ever really totally stray from the identity of an offense or defense."

To see how the Jaguars capitalize on Sauce Gardner's absence, sign up for our 100% FREE newsletter that comes straight to your email with the latest news. SIGN UP HERE NOW.

Follow us on X (Twitter) @JaguarsOnSI and @_John_Shipley and make sure you like our Facebook page, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.