The Jaguars have fired 48-year old head coach Jack Del Rio.  This comes as little surprise as the Jaguars’ owner Wayne Weaver gave him a mandate to make the playoffs or find another job.  The Jaguars are painful to watch right now as they are 3-8 on the season and they are scoring an average of only 12.5 points per game while allowing 18.2 points per game.  Del Rio was 68-71 (48.9%)  during the regular season and 1-2 (33.3%) in the post-season in his 10 years with the Jaguars.  39-year old defensive coordinator Mel Tucker will take over as the interim head coach for the Jaguars.  He has coached 7 years in the NFL and this is his third with the Jaguars.

The Jaguars have signed 31-year old LB Kevin Bentley.  Bentley played in 13 games for the Texans last year and he had 55 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 fumble recovery, 1 interception and 1 pass defensed.  He has now played in 132 games in his first 9 years in the NFL and he has 412 tackles, 1 sack, 12 tackles for a loss, 2 forced fumbles, 5 fumble recoveries, 9 passes defensed and 2 interceptions.  The Jaguars will likely throw Bentley right into the fire this weekend against the Texans.

UPDATE:  (12/5/2011) – The Jaguars have waived Kevin Bentley.  He played in 1 game for them and he had 1 tackle.  The Jaguars won’t miss him going forward.

The Jaguars have placed 24-year old OT Eben Britton and 24-year old LB Kyle Bosworth both on the Injured Reserve List ending their seasons.  Britton played in 4 games (3 starts) for the Jaguars this year.  He has now played in 26 games (25 starts) in his first three years with the Jaguars.  That injury is going to hurt.  Kyle Bosworth played in 9 games for the Jaguars and he had 5 tackles this year.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will lose 31-year old CB Rashean Mathis for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL.  Mathis played in 9 games for the Jaguars this year and he had 34 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 4 passes defensed, 1 fumble recovery and 1 interception.  He has now played in 125 games in his first 9 years with the Jaguars and he has 498 tackles, 30 interceptions (3 returned for TDs), 98 passes defensed, 1 sack, 6 forced fumbles, 5 fumble recoveries and 14 tackles for a loss.  This is a big loss for the Jaguars as Mathis is the one player on defense that they just can’t replace.

The Jaguars have claimed 23-year old WR Brian Robiskie off waivers from the Browns.  Robiskie played in 6 games for the Browns this year and he caught 3 passes for 25 yards (8.3 avg).  He has now played in 31 games in his first three years in the NFL and he has caught 39 passes for 441 yards (11.3 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  This is a case of desperate times call for desperate measures.  The Browns don’t have much at WR and Robiskie couldn’t get on the field much with them.  Don’t expect miracles out of Robiskie.

UPDATE:  (12/2/2011) – The Jaguars have placed Brian Robiskie on the Injured Reserve List due to a hamstring injury.  He didn’t get into any games for the Jags this year.

The Jaguars have placed 26-year old WR Mike Sims-Walker on the Injured Reserve List due to a foot injury.  Sims-Walker played in 2 games for the Jaguars this year and he caught 1 pass for 11 yards.  He has now played in 40 games in his four years with the Jaguars and he has caught 123 passes for 1,659 yards (13.5 avg) with 14 TD grabs.  This is a bad break for the Jaguars.

UPDATE:  (12/5/2011) – The Jaguars have waived Mike Sims-Walker with an injury settlement.

The Jaguars have signed 26-year old TE Martin Rucker off of the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad.  Rucker played in 1 game for the Cowboys this year but he didn’t catch any passes.  Rucker has now played in 11 games in his first three years in the NFL and he has caught 2 passes for 17 yards (8.5 avg).  Rucker will try to replace Zach Miller who was placed on I.R. yesterday, ending his season.  To make room on the roster for Rucker, the Jaguars have placed 22-year old CB Rod Isaac on the Injured Reserve List due to a hamstring injury.  Isaac played in 3 games for the Jaguars this year but he didn’t have any tackles.

UPDATE:  (11/9/2011) – The Jaguars have placed Martin Rucker on I.R. due to an undisclosed problem.  He only played in 1 game for the Jaguars and he didn’t have any catches.

The Jaguars have signed 26-year old WR Mike Sims-Walker.  He was just released yesterday by the Rams after they acquired WR Brandon Lloyd in a deal with the Broncos.  Sims-Walker played in 4 games for the Rams this year and he caught 11 passes for 139 yards (12.6 avg).  He played in 38 games in his first stint with the Jaguars (three years) and he caught 122 passes for 1,648 yards (13.5 avg) with 14 TD grabs.  This was a good move for the Jaguars as Mike Sims-Walker knows the system and they need some more playmakers in the passing game.

The Jaguars have placed 27-year old TE Zach Miller on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season due to a shoulder injury.  Miller played in 4 games for the Jaguars in 2011 and he caught 4 passes for 42 yards (10.5 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Miller has played in 33 games in his first three years with the Jaguars and he has caught 45 passes for 470 yards (10.4 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  The Jaguars can’t afford to lose playmakers like Miller.

The Jaguars have signed 33-year old punter Nick Harris to replace Matt Turk.  Harris played in all 16 games for the Lions last year and he punted the ball 90 times for 4,018 yards (44.6 avg).  He also had 8 touchbacks (8.9%) and pinned the opponents inside their own 20-yard line 24 times (26.7%) last year.  Harris has now played in 159 games in his first 11 years in the NFL and he has punted the ball 804 times for 34,137 yards (42.5%).  He also has 60 touchbacks (7.5%) and pinned the opposition inside their own 20-yard line 226 times (28.1%) so far in his career.  Harris is a clear upgrade over Turk, so I love this signing for the Jaguars.