Jacksonville Jaguars general manager David Caldwell seemed to concede on Tuesday what many have suspected for some time: receiver Justin Blackmon will probably not return to the team and his NFL career is likely over.
“I guess I harbor hope, but realistically, when you’re away from the game for two-and-a-half years, what you were once is not what you will probably be – your skills do erode, especially when you’re not in shape and not in top football shape,” Caldwell told reporters at the team’s training camp.
Blackmon, the Jags’ first-round pick in 2012, has been suspended indefinitely since the middle of the 2013 season for a number of violations of the league’s substance-abuse policy. Caldwell said Tuesday that he has not heard an update on Blackmon’s status in some time and expressed doubt Blackmon will ever be able to return.
“Common sense would probably be, if you haven’t played football in two-and-a-half years, apparently that’s not a priority for you,” Caldwell said.
Once Blackmon was supposed to be a building block for the franchise. The Jaguars took him with the fifth overall pick in 2012 and he showed glimpses of promise that season and the start of the next, but failed drug tests took their toll. He was suspended after the 2012 season, returned for the start of 2013 and then received his indefinite suspension in October of 2013.
The Jags appear to be done with Blackmon though they keep him on their roster. Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union reported on Tuesday that the team is hoping to get back up to $4m of Blackmon’s signing bonus and would be unable to do so if they released him.
