Jaguars' 42-7 Win Came at a Cost: Hamilton Carted Off, and Murray, Walker and Cleveland All Hurt
Jacksonville's rout of Indianapolis put the Jaguars three games clear in the AFC South, but four starters left the game: nose tackle DaVon Hamilton with a right knee injury the AP described as looking season-ending, safety Eric Murray (elbow), defensive end Travon Walker (ribs) and right guard Ezra Cleveland (ankle). Backup linebacker Branson Combs also left with an arm injury.
The win was the easy part. Jacksonville's 42-7 rout of Indianapolis on Sunday gave the Jaguars a three-game lead in the AFC South - a spot the Associated Press noted they have not been in since 1999 - but the postgame file is an injury list, in the AP's game report opened by the desk this run.
The serious one is in the middle of the run defense. Nose tackle DaVon Hamilton, listed at 335 pounds, sustained what the AP described as what looked like a season-ending right knee injury in the second quarter. Players rushed to his side, a trainer quickly called for a cart, and he was ruled out minutes later, the AP reported. Jacksonville's run defense could get tested moving forward without him, the report added - Indianapolis's Jonathan Taylor, the last player to top 100 rushing yards against Jacksonville, was held to 23 yards on eight carries Sunday. Coach Liam Coen's postgame words, as the AP carried them, were about the man rather than a timeline: “Extremely, extremely difficult,” Coen said. “There's not many better humans, better competitors, team guys. ... I can't say enough about him.”
Hamilton was not the only starter lost. The AP's key-injuries summary lists three more Jacksonville starters hurt in the game besides Hamilton: safety Eric Murray (left elbow), defensive end Travon Walker (right-side ribs) and right guard Ezra Cleveland (right ankle). Backup linebacker Branson Combs (left arm) also left the game in the fourth quarter. The desk reports the list exactly as the AP states it; no severity or return timeline for Murray, Walker, Cleveland or Combs was reported in the file read this run, and none is claimed here.
The timing is the hard part. Jacksonville finished with 183 rushing yards and its seventh straight regular-season home win, outscoring opponents 271-75 across those games, the AP reported - and now goes to Baltimore on Thursday night, four days after this game, with four starters' availability unknown and its nose tackle's injury described in the terms above. The Colts, who played without nickel cornerback Justin Walley, host Dallas next Sunday.
