The Jacksonville Jaguars named their first ever group of protected practice squad players Tuesday for Week 1 of the 2020 season. Those players will be Nathan Cottrell, tight ends Ben Ellefson and Matt Flanagan, and cornerback Sidney Jones for Week 1.
The @Jaguars have "protected" 4 players on their practice squad for Week 1 vs. Indy:
• RB Nathan Cottrell
• TE Ben Ellefson
• TE Matt Flanagan
• CB Sidney JonesThese 4 are not eligible to sign with another team until after Sunday's game.
You're thinking, "Huh?" More info: pic.twitter.com/X2Onzt85xY
— Tad Dickman (@TDickman89) September 8, 2020
With the collective bargaining agreement being adjusted in 2020 due to the coronavirus, the league made several changes to how practice squads operate. In addition to the units being moved up to a maximum of 16 players and six veterans being allowed on the unit, the league also will allow teams to protect four players from being poached from each team’s respective practice squad. Once that team plays their game for the week, they then will be able to repeat the process again.
The Jags making the decision to protect Ellefson and Flanagan makes sense because the Jags have had bad luck at tight end in the past as far as injuries go. The teams current top-2 tight ends Tyler Eifert and James O’Shaughnessy are two players we’ve expressed concerns for as Eifert has missed over 50 career games and O’Shaughnessy is coming off of an ACL tear. That said, one can completely understand the Jags wanting to ensure both remain on the team.
The decision to protect Jones also makes sense as he is a player who was a highly regarded cut league-wide this week. As for Cottrell, the Jags probably wanted to protect him because of their depth at running back as Ryquell Armstead will be on the Reserve/COVID-19 list for a while, per coach Doug Marrone.
