Two of Jacksonville’s deadline acquisitions will not be on the field for the club this weekend.
Jaguars head coach Liam Coen told reporters in his Friday press conference that safety Jessie Bates and defensive tackle Jordan Davis will sit out Sunday’s matchup against the Titans because they did not have a bye week with their previous teams. Davon Godchaux, who did have a bye, is set to play.
“Want to be able to make sure [that with] player safety, putting them in a position to succeed, also learn the system, and just give those guys a week to be able to do that,” Coen said.
Coen added that the club had been talking about doing that this week and made the final decision to rest the players on Friday.
The head coach has been impressed with all of the acquisitions so far.
“Yeah, I mean, Jesse Bates has been here until about 10:30 every night, which has been pretty cool seeing him in there learning, grinding, working through it,” Coen said. “There’s obviously so much that safeties have to be able to communicate and operate with in the backend of the entire structure. I’ve really appreciated the way him, Jordan, and Davon have all gone through the work week. Obviously, Davon and Jesse have been through different organizations, teams, moves — this is new for Jordan. And he’s worked his tail off with the strength and conditioning and sports science, athletic training guys this week. And he’s putting his best foot forward to hopefully be able to get out next week for us.”
The Jaguars will be on the road to face the Giants in Week 11, where Davis and Bates will make their respective debuts.