The Jacksonville Jaguars standing pat on Brian Thomas Jr. on Tuesday was one of the biggest shockers of the entire trade deadline.
Thomas Jr. spent months ignoring all trade rumors, and the noise only got louder in the final weeks as dozens of trade pitches shipped him off to receiver-needy teams like the Chiefs and Steelers every day.
Bhayshul Tuten Opens Up About Brian Thomas Jr. Situation
Jaguars running back Bhayshul Tuten, one of Jacksonville’s biggest standouts this season, opened up about what he saw from Thomas Jr. behind the scenes.
“To me, I see it as a confident put. Like he knows how to block it out,” Tuten said on the Up & Adams show. “As I said earlier, eliminating the outside noise, he’s a pro. And mentally, he’s a pro as well, because he understands that. As a player that fans may not like or fans may want to see out, I think he’s doing a good job blocking it out.”
“I think it doesn’t get to him because, you know, that can stress players out and stress people out, but I think just him being able to unlock it in his mind to block it out and let the hearsay be hearsay and keep it as that and not get to him mentally is the biggest thing that ought to pull him out more, honestly.”
Thomas Jr.’s stats weren’t helping his case either. Through eight games, he has just 10 catches on 21 targets for 117 yards and two touchdowns. He has been held without a catch in three of his last four outings, including Thursday night’s Week 9 win over the Ravens where he didn’t even draw a target.
And that comes after he put up 1,282 yards in his rookie season.
James Gladstone Backed Brian Thomas Jr. After Deadline
Still, James Gladstone publically reinstated the importance of Thomas Jr. in the Jaguars locker room, after months of silence on the trade rumors.
“We have a ton of value when it comes to BTJ,” Gladstone said, via Miami Herald. “His role and what I imagine his contribution will be down the stretch here is going to be notable. He’s such a good person to work with, he’s such a good teammate, and so I expect a lot of good in what lies in front.”
“Knowing at this time our wide receiver room, in particular, has such a range of skill sets at its disposal and those that complement each other really well,” Gladstone added. “And when you think beyond that, the pass catchers we have at our disposal when you start working in the tight end group and the running back room, it just allows our offense to be multiple, it allows us to be able to activate guys in different ways in different games that looks different from one to the next. So I think that ability to jump from one to the next is certainly going to benefit us here in the rest of the season and look forward to that being the case.”
Jacksonville swung big at the deadline with three major trades on Tuesday, yet general manager James Gladstone held onto the one trade chip that could have helped recoup some of that lost draft capital.
Sunday’s Week 10 trip to Tennessee will offer the first real test of whether keeping Brian Thomas Jr. was the right call.
Bhayshul Tuten Reacts to Jaguars Not Trading Brian Thomas Jr. at Deadline