Jags Starting Center Injured (1 Viewer)

[rascal]

MEESTER ON THE MEND

Jags starting center Brad Meester will miss 8-10 weeks after breaking an ankle on Monday at practice.

It happened on the final play of a nine-on-seven drill.

Meester will undergo surgery on Wednesday, and he could return in lare September or early October. He started every game for the Jags in 2006, and he has started all but four games since joining the team in 2000.

Source is PFT.

 

[rascal]

Downgrade MJD and Taylor?

 

[sholditch]

ouch man, this is a rough day for running games. Downgrade Jags runners or do they have a decent replacement? How much does the center effect the o-line's run blocking?

 

[rascal]

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stor...188077029.shtml

The Jaguars suffered their first major injury of training camp Monday night when a bone was cracked in center Brad Meester's right ankle.

Meester, who has started 108 of 112 games since being drafted on the second round in 2000, will undergo surgery and could be sidelined eight to 10 weeks. The only other time he missed games was in 2005 when he missed the last four games with a torn biceps tendon.

He will be replaced by Princeton graduate Dennis Norman, who only has five starts in his career. Four of those starts came when he replaced Meester in 2005.

Norman was the Jaguars' top backup at guard and center so the Jaguars now won't have as much depth in the line for at least the first half of the season.

The Jaguars were counting on a big year from their line because they need to keep Byron Leftwich, who has missed 15 of the last 21 games, healthy this year.

 

[Jiggyonthehut]

Damn, just when I thought the injury bug had gone away. Meester will be missed, he is a valuable part of the line and played well last year but many people, myself included, don't see too much of a dropoff in talent between Meester and Norman. Norman is a very cerebral player that filled in extremely well for Meester in 05- with a prevalent opinion that he outperformed Meester in those four games alone.

It may be a case where the backup is just as good as the starter. I have no worries about the line, though I hate messing with its' cohesiveness. Grab MJD if he starts slipping because the news is a bit more sensational than advertised.

 

[sholditch]

thanks for the insight

 

[tomarken]

Meester, who has started 108 of 112 games since being drafted on the second round in 2000, will undergo surgery and could be sidelined eight to 10 weeks. The only other time he missed games was in 2005 when he missed the last four games with a torn biceps tendon.

He will be replaced by Princeton graduate Dennis Norman, who only has five starts in his career. Four of those starts came when he replaced Meester in 2005.

I did a quick check on pro-football-reference.com and the Jags rushing attack the last four games of 2005 looks like this:Wk 14: 22 att, 81 yds, 1 TD

Wk 15: 34 att, 132 yds, 1 TD

Wk 16: 32 att, 167 yds, 4 TD

Wk 17: 32 att, 121 yds, 3 TD

And that was with guys like Pearman, Toefield, Wimbush, etc. in some of those games. So maybe this is not something to get too worked up about.

 

[rascal]

Look at who they played against. Indy, and Houston I know for sure. But I think Tennessee was also in that list.

 

[tomarken]

Look at who they played against. Indy, and Houston I know for sure. But I think Tennessee was also in that list.

I don't have the schedule in front of me, but I'm pretty sure they play Indy, Houston, and Tennessee this year too. I'm not judging one way or another, I was just pointing out that in the games Meester was out, the Jags were able to put together a decent running game with lesser RB's than MJD and Taylor. I'm not sure I would downgrade either of them right now based on this news.