Jacksonville Jaguars: Injury Opens Door For Jeremy Harris
The Jacksonville Jaguars‘ secondary will have a slightly different look for Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins. An injury to starting cornerback Alan Ball has paved the way for second-year player Jeremy Harris to make his first career start.
Harris, 23, is one of two cornerbacks the Jaguars selected in the seventh round of the 2013 draft. The other, Demetrius McCray, has started the past three games opposite Ball and appears to have locked down that job for the foreseeable future.
Unlike McCray, Harris has failed to make much of an impact early in his career. He missed his entire rookie season with a back injury and has only appeared in two games this season. He is set to receive his first significant amount of playing time Sunday against Miami.
While Sunday’s game is a great opportunity for Harris, it won’t be easy for the former New Mexico State standout. The Dolphins’ pass offense does not necessarily strike fear in its opponents, but with one of the top deep threats in the NFL in wide receiver Mike Wallace, the ever consistent Brian Hartline and promising rookie Jarvis Landry, it is reasonable to think that quarterback Ryan Tannehill will go after the inexperienced Harris early and often.
Luckily for Harris, he should have plenty of support from the rest of the Jaguars’ defense that has improved drastically in recent weeks. After allowing 312.5 pass yards per game the first four games of the season, the defense has allowed just 226 pass yards per game the past three weeks.
Sometimes all a young player needs is an opportunity. It will be interesting to see what Harris does with his.
K.J. Momberg is a Jacksonville Jaguars writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @k_momberg or add him to your network on Google.
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