Jaguars Sign Defensive Tackle Austin Johnson to the Practice Squad After Hamilton's Season-Ending Injury
The Jaguars announced Monday they have signed veteran defensive tackle Austin Johnson, 32, to the practice squad, releasing long-snapper Jacob Bobenmoyer in the corresponding move - the first roster answer to DaVon Hamilton's season-ending torn quad, and a familiar one: Johnson played 14 games for Jacksonville last season.
Jacksonville's first move after losing DaVon Hamilton is a reunion. The Jaguars announced Monday that veteran defensive tackle Austin Johnson is being signed to the practice squad, Jaguars Wire reported on November 2, in a file read via search by the Sports Desk in this supplemental pass. To make room, long-snapper Jacob Bobenmoyer has been released, with Ross Matiscik healthy, the same report said; NFL Trade Rumors carried the same two transactions in its November 2 report.
Johnson, 32, was a second-round pick by Tennessee in 2016 and joined the Jaguars during last year's training camp, signing in early August. He appeared in 14 games for Jacksonville last season, registering 12 tackles and 1.0 sack - Sports Illustrated's takeaways file, also read via search this run, adds a forced fumble and a pass defensed. He was not re-signed this past offseason, and the Bills signed him to their practice squad earlier this season before cutting him at the end of October, NFL Trade Rumors reported.
The context is the diagnosis this desk published this morning: Hamilton suffered a torn quad in Sunday's 42-7 win over the Colts and is expected to miss the rest of the season (SQ-20261102-028). SI's assessment, labeled here as its analysis, is that the immediate Thursday-night solution at nose tackle will have to come from the roster already in the building - it names Matt Dickerson as the most likely candidate to step into Hamilton's spot against Baltimore - with the Johnson signing more about depth behind him, and the trade market at the position still open to Jacksonville before the November 10 deadline, as Jaguars Wire also noted.
A practice-squad signing is a depth move, not a headline move, and the story claims nothing more for it: a veteran who played in this same defense last season is back in the building on the week the Jaguars lost their starting nose tackle, four days before a Thursday night game in Baltimore. The Sports Desk files any further deadline move when it is announced.
