Less than two weeks after signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars, veteran defensive end Josh Mauro has been suspended for the first five games of the 2020 season, as NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported Friday. The discipline stems from the use of performance-enhancing drugs, per Garafolo, marking the second time in Mauro's career that he's been banned for a PED violation.
The Jaguars were aware of Mauro's impending suspension when they signed the 29-year-old lineman on Aug. 11, according to ESPN's Michael DiRocco. But that doesn't make the team's defensive line depth any better. Jacksonville had seemed to add Mauro specifically to bolster its early-season trenches, with unsigned Pro Bowl starter Yannick Ngakoue still holding out of training camp, rookie first-round pick K'Lavon Chaisson coming off a shortened offseason and only second-year edge rusher Josh Allen ahead of him on the club's August depth chart. Veterans Al Woods, Aaron Lynch and Rodney Gunter had already either opted out of the 2020 season or retired from football altogether, leaving the Jags thin off the edge.
Undrafted out of Stanford in 2014, Mauro spent the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Arizona Cardinals but was last seen with the Oakland Raiders in 2019, appearing in 13 games as a reserve. He was previously suspended four games for violating the league's PED policy while playing for the New York Giants in 2018.
Mauro will be eligible to return to the Jags' active roster on Oct. 12, after the team's Week 5 game against the Houston Texans. He will still be permitted to participate in practice for the remainder of training camp and leading up to Week 1, as NFL.com noted.
