The Jacksonville Jaguars had a near-spotless season opener at home against the Cleveland Browns.
As clearly the better team, the Jags didn’t let up, and they rolled to a 34-10 victory. If there was a concerning moment, it was when Brian Thomas Jr. went down with an injury and left the game. He went pretty quickly to the locker room.
Thomas had made three catches for 40 yards up to that point.
The third-year WR didn’t make another grab after that, so for those who were tracking his status, it certainly looked on paper like Thomas may have been knocked out for the game.
But following up on this, the news is pretty important for the Jaguars, and it’s not what you might’ve been thinking.
Brian Thomas Jr. Injury Update
Turns out, Thomas returned to the game on Sunday.
No, he didn’t have another catch after his fast start, but he also didn’t remain out the rest of the game.
The fact that the Jaguars cleared him to come back onto the field is as encouraging a sign as there can be. Barring some kind of post-script worsening of the injury, Thomas seems like he should be just fine going forward.
Even at the time, the injury confused viewers a bit. Some thought it might’ve been an ankle issue, but it turned out to be a shoulder injury, which did make sense after watching a replay of what happened.
A shoulder injury to a wideout wouldn’t necessarily be pivotal unless it was particularly serious, and the Jags evidently determined that this one wasn’t that serious.
Mystery can remain with an in-game injury when a player doesn’t come back the rest of the day. That’s not the case here, though. Thomas returned, and that should mean everyone in Jacksonville can breathe a sigh of relief.
Another Reason for BTJ’s Quiet Second Half
The reality is that even though Thomas did return, he didn’t have to return for long.
This was a game the Jaguars opened up to a 34-3 lead at one point. The Browns were doing absolutely nothing until a meaningless long touchdown pass with less than two minutes to play.
The Jags pulled Trevor Lawrence early to get him out of the fray, letting backup QB Nick Mullens get some action.
Thomas would’ve been removable at some point anyway, but given that he also had hurt himself earlier in the game, it was just another reason to be extra cautious.
It’ll be worth watching the Jaguars’ injury reports later this week just to be sure Thomas doesn’t pop up as having any kind of limitations due to a shoulder injury. But for now, it seems any major concerns have been avoided.
Jaguars’ Brian Thomas Jr. Gets Big Injury News