The Jacksonville Jaguars finally got their feet wet in the preseason and at the end of the day, earned a 23-21 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, the Jags victory had a scare early on with Julius Thomas leaving the game with an apparent left hand injury.
The injury happened on a play action rollout by quarterback Blake Bortles and ended with Julius Thomas for a two yard gain, but he immediately exited the field and into the locker room for the rest of the game.
This would not come to surprise to some fans, as Julius Thomas has had injury problems in the past with the Denver Broncos. There was no word of the extent of the injury until the second half of the game where NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that Thomas fractured his left middle finger. However, there are conflicting reports from local Jacksonville reporters Brent Martineau, stating it's a less severe injury, and Ryan O'Halloran saying it is the back of the hand bothering Thomas. Either way, the Jaguars will take the safe route with their big five-year $46 million free agent signing in resting him for the rest of the preseason.
Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley told 1010XL, a local Jacksonville radio station, "Stable fracture. Good news is quick healing," in reference to Thomas' injury. "I talked to him at halftime and he was like, ‘Club it up, I’ll be back out there."
Julius Thomas will be getting more tests on Saturday to see the extent of the injury. However, Jaguars fans should expect to see a minor injury that should not be able to hinder Thomas' ability to play for the season opener on September 13 against the Carolina Panthers.
The Jags came out today showing plenty of two tight end sets during the game, with or without Thomas. As that shows, the Jaguars will still be looking onto Julius Thomas to play a big role for the Jaguars offense, but he needs to stay healthy in order to have Jags fans rest easy and fulfill a role of star offensive weapon the Jags need moving forward.
