Jacksonville made a move along the offensive line on Wednesday, as fifth-year guard Rashaad Coward was released from the roster. Coward had signed ahead of the Miami game to help improve depth along the offensive line with starting center Brandon Linder being placed on the injured reserve, as well as guard A.J. Cann. However, Coward missed the trip to London last Sunday after surfacing on the injury report with an ankle injury.
Fourth-year swing tackle/guard Will Richardson Jr., who actually had to fill in for Ben Bartch Sunday (concussion), was dubbed by coach Urban Meyer as the team’s most improved player this offseason. He reiterated that in Monday’s press conference as Richardson took 42 offensive snaps Sunday.
“The other guy that’s arguably the most improved player on the team… is Will Richardson,” Meyer said. “He’s a swing tackle, swing guard now, and to go into that kind of game where they were playing bear defense and blitzing, that was the most pressure we’ve seen all year.”
With Meyer’s confidence in Richardson to fill in at guard if needed, it allowed the Jags to move on from Coward, who was undrafted out of Old Dominion in 2017 and spent the first four seasons of his career with the Chicago Bears. He signed with Pittsburgh this offseason, but he was released on Oct. 9.
Now, Coward will look to find his way to another roster as the Jaguars are moving on without him.
