Jaguars notebook: Reserve/COVID-19 list swells to 16, and Andrew Norwell's season might be done

The Jaguars' Reserve/COVID-19 list swelled to 16 active players on Monday the team added 10 players, eight of whom played on Sunday in the 26-21 loss against the New York Jets.

Of the players added, offensive guard Andrew Norwell will be out a mandatory 10 days because he is unvaccinated. It's possible that the other players added will be able to be in uniform on Sunday against the New England Patriots if they turn in two consecutive negative tests the rest of this week.

In addition to Norwell, the other players added are tight end Dan Arnold (who was designated for return from an injury last week), defensive tackle Malcom Brown, outside linebacker K'Lavon Chaisson, tight end Luke Farrell, defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton, center Brandon Linder, tight end Chris Manhertz, outside linebacker Lerentee McCray and defensive end Jihad Ward. Offensive guard Jared Hocker was put on the practice squad/COVID-19 list.

More: Jaguars RB James Robinson exemplifies everything a NFL star player should be

And: Jaguars Up-Down drill: What went right and wrong in 26-21 loss to New York Jets

Outside linebacker Josh Allen, linebacker Myles Jack, wide receiver Laviska Shenault, offensive guard Ben Bartch and defensive end Jordan Smith were placed on the COVID list last week and were inactive against the Jets.

Allen and Smith won't be able to play against the Patriots because they are unvaccinated. The other players could return with two negative tests.

The number of players on the COVID list hits the offensive and defense lines especially hard. The worst-case scenario is that the Jaguars' starting offensive line against New England would be Cam Robinson and Jawaan Taylor at tackle, K.C. McDermott and Will Richardson at guard and Tyler Shatley at center. The defensive line would be some combination of Dawuane Smoot and Roy Robertson-Harris on the outside and Taven Bryan, Adam Gotsis and Jay Tufele on the inside.

The Jaguars also claimed two players off the Los Angeles Rams practice squad, linebacker Jamir Jones and running back Mekhi Sargent.

Jones (6 feet 3, 255 pounds) was an undrafted free agent signed by Houston in 2020. He later landed in Pittsburgh and then L.A., and has played a combined of 13 games with both teams (10 with the Rams). The Notre Dame graduate has eight tackles. He had 50 tackles, 4.5 sacks and two forced fumbles with the Irish from 2016-19.

Sargent (5-8, 208) originally signed with the Titans as a rookie free agent following the 2021 draft and played in three games with the Titans and then three games with the Rams. He carried two times for 5 yards against the Jaguars on Dec. 5. Sargent, originally from Key West, gained 1,801 yards and scored 20 touchdowns for the Hawkeyes from 2018-20.

Logan Cooke has knee injury

The bad injury news just keeps on coming for the Jaguars.

A day after running back James Robinson suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon injury in a 26-21 loss to the New York Jets in East Rutherford, N.J., interim coach Darrell Bevell said on Monday that fourth-year punter Logan Cooke suffered a knee injury against the Jets and could be out for the final two games, Sunday at New England and Jan. 9 at home against Indianapolis.

That means the Jaguars arguably lost their two most productive offensive players over the past two seasons in the same game.

Robinson gained 1,070 yards last year, and despite being plagued by injuries and controversy over being benched by former coach Urban Meyer will likely finish the season as the team's rushing leader again, with 767 yards.

Cooke has done so well for the Jaguars that he is the only player in the 2018 draft class to have signed a second contract. He's tied for second in the NFL with former Jaguar Bryan Anger of Dallas in net punting (44.3) and third in the league in the number of punts either blown dead, gone out of bounds or the returner tackled inside the 20-yard line.

Bevell said general manager Trent Baalke was working on finding a punter off the street — preferably one who can kick off since the Jaguars have allowed two kickoff return scores in the last two games and three this season. Cooke took over from Matthew Wright for kickoffs against Houston two weeks ago after a 98-yard return by Tremon Smith.

"The ideal is to find someone who can kick off, boom them out of the end zone," Bevell said.

Dare to be great

Bevell praised backup running back Dare Ogunbowale for his effort against the Jets. With Robinson out and Carlos Hyde on the injured reserve list for the rest of the season, he will get the majority of the carries in the running game.

"Dare really did a nice job to step in those moments, for a guy who hasn't gotten a ton of carries," Bevell said.

Ogunbowale gained 57 yards on 17 carries and caught two passes for 15 yards. He scored the touchdown in the fourth quarter that got the Jags within two points.

Ogunbowale, one of a long list of running backs produced by Wisconsin, started the last two games in 2020 when Robinson was injured. In three starts, Ogunbowale has gained 178 yards on 45 carries (3.9) and caught nine passes for 44 yards.

Did Marvin Jones score?

Some replay angles of a pass completion from Trevor Lawrence to Marvin Jones on Sunday with the final seconds ticking down showed that Jones may have cracked the plane of the end zone with the ball before being tackled by the Jets' Brandin Echols.

The ball was marked at the 1-yard line. With no timeouts, Lawrence had to hurry the team to the line of scrimmage and spike the ball on third down, giving them only one more play.

The play ate 16 seconds off the clock between the snap and the time Lawrence was able to spike it on the third-down play. The Jaguars then botched the fourth-down attempt, getting called for an illegal shift on an incompletion from Lawrence to Jones.

One the second-down play, Jones ran his pattern a yard deep into the end zone, then had to come back for the ball.

NFL coaches can't challenge plays in the final two minutes of the game but the league usually reviews anything close. It didn't, in this case.

Had the booth officials ordered a replay, it also would have stopped the clock.

"It's disappointing that they didn't," Bevell said. "You'd think they would. It's the responsibility of the league ... for them to take a look at that."

Mixed bag for Trevor Lawrence

Bevell wasn't going to give a rookie quarterback all the blame, nor take it completely off his shoulders, for the sloppy final sequence for the Jaguars — the hurried spike on third down and the inability to get set on fourth down.

"I would like all of us to do a better job," he said. "Early in the game, the offense was smooth, operating well. We made a lot of big plays, good long drives but to end on a play like that is really disappointing."

Bevell also said Lawrence continues to have problems with fumbles. However, Lawrence was fortunate that the two balls he put on the ground against the Jets didn't cost the Jags points — or result in points for the Jets.

Lawrence lost the first fumble when diving towards the end zone in the second quarter, but offensive guard Will Richardson fell on the ball for a touchdown.

Lawrence was then strip-sacked by C.J. Mosley in the third quarter, with Ronald Blair recovering and returning the ball to the Jags 13. But Lawrence got off the hook again when the drive stalled and Jets substitute coach Ron Middleton ordered a fake field-goal attempt, with Tyson Campbell tackling holder Braden Mann inches short of the first down.

"Trevor did a really good job but the two glaring things [were] the turnovers, the two balls on the ground," he said. "He could have done a better job with the decision of what to do on that play. If it's not there, move out of the pocket and get rid of it. He's got to do a better job of securing the ball as a runner."

Lawrence is tied for seventh in the NFL with nine fumbles and is tied for second with five of them lost.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars have 16 players on COVID list, including Andrew Norwell