Nobody batted an eye when the Jacksonville Jaguars announced that Montaric Brown, Wyatt Milum, and Cole Van Lanen would be inactive for the Carolina Panthers. After all, Brown and Milum had already been ruled out for the game, and Van Lanen was a long shot to play.
What stood out about the team's list of inactives for the season opener was the appearance of Maason Smith. It was surprising because the second-year defensive tackle didn't appear on the injury report, so he didn't suit up for the Panthers game because the coaching staff may have thought that he wasn't going to make an impact.
How did Jaguars DT Maason Smith get here?
Maason Smith sat out a portion of training camp after landing on the Physically Unable to Perform list with an undisclosed injury. He eventually was activated and returned to practice. However, head coach Liam Coen said that the sophomore defender would need to get up to speed and make up for the time he missed.
On the other hand, Coen also said that he was hyped up to have Smith around. Heck, he had previously mentioned that the injury wasn't nearly as serious, so it's possible that he simply wasn't able to make an impression during the preseason. That's probably why he was behind Khalen Sanders and DaVon Hamilton on the depth chart ahead of the game.
With Smith being made a healthy scratch in the opener, DaVon Hamilton got the starting nod next to Arik Armstead at defensive tackle. Khalen Sanders and Austin Johnson were the backups.
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The Jaguars may not be pleased with Maason Smith's progress
It's important to point out that Maason Smith was made inactive for several games in 2024, so the fact that he was a healthy scratch against the Carolina Panthers isn't particularly shocking. Heck, you could even make the case that precisely because the former LSU Tiger got off to a slow start to his rookie campaign but finished strong, he'll turn out to be fine.
On the other hand, that took place during the past regime, and Smith needs to prove that he can be counted on, which will be hard to pull off behind Khalen Saunders and DaVon Hamilton.
The silver lining is that there's still ample time for Maason Smith to hit his stride. However, he'd better hurry, as the Jaguars, under general manager James Gladstone, have shown that they're not afraid to move up from players who fail to meet their standards.
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