Jaguars eye return of center Robert Hainsey for Wembley game against Rams
WATFORD, England (AP) — There are many reasons why the Jacksonville Jaguars would be happy to get center Robert Hainsey back from a hamstring injury for Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams.
Head coach Liam Coen listed a bunch of them Friday.
“It’s obviously the mentality, the toughness, the physicality, the leadership, the standard and the command that he continues to push. Having him out there would be really important for us,” Coen said ahead of practice.
Hainsey was upgraded to full participation at practice Thursday — and was with the first team again Friday — after missing last week’s game against Seattle. The Jags rushed for just 59 yards in the 20-12 loss to the Seahawks and quarterback Trevor Lawrence was sacked a career-high seven times.
Running back Travis Etienne Jr. rushed for a season-low 27 yards on 12 carries last week.
The 27-year-old Hainsey signed in the offseason from Tampa Bay, where he played in Coen’s offense — the Jags coach was the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator last season — though mainly as a backup.
“So much of our collaboration on working through an offense was run through Hainsey, even when he wasn’t the starting center for us,” Coen said. “You’re bouncing ideas off of him, run schemes, ways of targeting runs and how he sees defensive structures.”
Jags players voted Hainsey as one of the captains this season.
Jonah Monheim filled in last week and “played really well,” Coen said. “He’s continued to get better week in and week out, but having Hainsey would be really important for us.”
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