WATFORD, England — The Jacksonville Jaguars are expected to have a new long snapper for their Oct. 18 game against the Houston Texans in London and might also have a fill-in left tackle.
Long snapper Ross Matiscik sustained a left shoulder injury
on the Jaguars’ first punt against the Philadelphia Eagles and left the postgame locker room wearing a sling. Left tackle Anton Harrison sustained right knee injury in the third quarter and did not return.The left tackle situation is simple: If Harrison, who underwent an MRI on Oct. 12, can’t play, Walker Little will start.
During a media video conference, coach Liam Coen said a new long snapper was “arriving here (shortly),” which means general manager James Gladstone and the personnel department were
likely working the phones before the Jaguars completed their 19-17 win over the Eagles.
Matiscik has played in 109 consecutive games since joining the Jaguars in 2020. Defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton was the emergency long snapper against the Eagles.
As for Harrison, he went down as he tried to block defensive tackle Moro Ojomo on the back side of a run play by Bhayshul Tuten.
“We’re kind of at the mercy (of the MRI results) and see what that looks like and how Anton feels,” Coen said. “He’s a little stiff, but I have a lot of belief in (director of athletic training Jeff Ferguson) and our group; if anybody is going to get him ready to play, it will be them. We’ll have to be patient, obviously.”
Flying in an offensive tackle, Coen said, from the United States is not being considered because the Jaguars have Geron Christian Sr. and Kilian Zierer on the practice squad.
Coen reflects on win
What did Coen do on the long bus ride from Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to the Jaguars’ headquarters in Watford? Watch game tape, of course.
“It’s challenging to decompress, for sure,” he said. “I don’t think I slept all that well. Specifically on the bus, we were able to watch some of the tape, which was good to be able to knock some of that out so that when you do get back to the hotel, you have a little bit more clarity as to what occurred.”
Clarity was required because the game lasted 3 hours, 42 minutes, which according to Pro Football Reference, was the fourth-longest in Jaguars regulation history (regular season).
“A ton of things occurred throughout,” Coen said.
Playing time totals
The Jaguars’ offense played a season-high 72 snaps in the win over Philadelphia, which meant it was the most played this year by several players, including running back Bhayshul Tuten (49), tight end Brenton Strange (58) and receivers Jakobi Meyers (61) and Parker Washington (59). Travis Hunter played six snaps.
Hunter, linebacker Foye Oluokun and safeties Antonio Johnson and Rayuan Lane played all 62 defensive snaps. Linebacker Dennis Gardeck played a season-high 31 and practice squad call-up safety Kaevon Merriweather played 21 in his Jaguars debut.
Recapping opening kickoff ejections
It should have been a sign for the madness that followed, but Jaguars defensive end Bryan Thomas Jr., and Eagles linebacker Jeremiah Trotter were ejected on the opening kickoff for fighting.
“They were disqualified for continuous non-football activities after the play was over,” referee Ron Torbert said in a postgame pool report.
Torbert said he “personally” did not see Thomas or Trotter throw a punch and did not receive assistance from the replay center in New York.
Cam Little honors Jude Bellingham
Jaguars kicker Cam Little’s press conference lasted a whopping 16 questions due to the British media wanting to ask him about his soccer background and his post-field goal celebration honoring England star Jude Bellingham.
Asked if it was the coolest moment of his career, Little said: “A hundred percent. It still gives me goosebumps because I wake up every Saturday morning to watch the Premier League (soccer matches) and then to play soccer from ages 5-16 – to do it in this stadium is like I have achieved my goal of playing professional soccer even though I’m playing pro football.”
It was the first walk-off kick of Little’s career and he sprinted toward one end zone before doing the Bellingham celebration of extending both arms.
“I had to do the Bellingham ‘celly,’ a little bit,” Little said.
Contact O’Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com or on X at @ryanohalloran. Listen to Ryan on 1010AM on Tuesdays (6:35 p.m. on “Into The Night"), Thursdays (1:15 on "XL Primetime") and Fridays ("First Coast Football Friday" 4-7 p.m.).
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars make plans to add long snapper for second London game
