Timmy Jernigan's NFL future seemed bleak heading into training camp, but the Jacksonville Jaguars are giving the defensive tackle another crack at sticking in the league. Per NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, the Jaguars and Jernigan have agreed in principle to a deal. Jernigan would fill the spot vacated by Al Woods, who opted out of the season due to COVID-19.
Jernigan agreed to a one-year, $3.75 million deal with the Houston Texans earlier this offseason, but didn't join the team due to a history of health issues and their sudden depth at the position. He was slated to receive $1.25 million guaranteed with Houston before both sides agreed to part ways.
Jacksonville runs a 4-3 scheme, in which Jernigan has played over the past three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. A series of injuries have hurt a promising start to Jernigan's career, including the Eagles reworking a four-year, $48 million extension he signed in November of 2017. Jernigan started 15 games with Philadelphia in that first season with the team after being acquired from the Baltimore Ravens, finishing with 29 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Jernigan also had 23 pressures on the season, but his production dipped in the second half of the year. That version of Jernigan was instrumental toward the Eagles having the No. 1 run defense in 2017 on their way toward winning the Super Bowl.
With Jernigan limited in 2018 thanks to a mysterious back injury, the Eagles run defense took a hit until his return. Jernigan played just 45 snaps on the season in a limited role, but had two pressures and two sacks in the 2018 playoffs. A broken foot caused Jernigan to miss six games last season, one which he had just 10 tackles and two sacks as a rotational tackle the majority of the year.
Jernigan will compete against Abry Jones and third-round rookie DaVon Hamilton for one of the starting spots at defensive tackle. Even if he doesn't win the job, the Jaguars will still find a way to get him on the field thanks to his ability to stop the run. Jacksonville was 28th against the run and gave up 23 rushing touchdowns last year (second-most in the NFL).
At the worst, Jernigan should be a rotational defensive tackle for the Jaguars.
