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.

The Jaguars have released 43-year old punter Matt Turk.  Turk played in all five games for the Jaguars this year and he punted the ball 27 times for 1,072 yards (39.7 avg).  Turk had 5 touchbacks (18.5%) and he also pinned the opposing teams inside their own 20-yard line 7 times (25.9%).  Turk was really lousy last weekend against the Bengals and the Jaguars just didn’t want to pay him anymore to keep sucking.

This looks like the perfect time to make the switch at QB from 30-year old Luke McCown to 21-year old rookie QB Blaine Gabbert.  Opposing QBs have a 124,7 QB Rating through the first two games against the Jags’ opponent this Sunday (the Carolina Panthers).  Gabbert replaced McCown late in the game against the Jets and he completed 5 of 6 passes (83.3%) for 52 yards without a TD pass or INT (102.8 QB Rating) in his NFL debut.  McCown has played in both games for the Jaguars so far this year and he has completed 23 of 43 passes (53.5%) for 234 yards without a TD pass and with 4 INTs (30.6 QB Rating).  McCown also has 6 carries for 14 yards (2.3 ypc).  Head Coach Jack Del Rio hasn’t named a starting QB for this Sunday at Carolina, but you have to think it will be Blaine Gabbert.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have released 33-year old QB David Garrard.  Garrard played in 86 games (76 starts) in his 9 years with the Jaguars and he has completed 1,406 of 2,281 passes (61.6%) for 16,003 yards with 89 TD passes and 54 INTs (85.8 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 380 times for 1,746 yards (4.6 ypc) with 17 TD runs for the Jaguars.  The Jaguars were 39-37 (51.3%) during the regular season and 1-1 in the post-season in games started by Garrard.  I think this is a very dumb move by the Jaguars as Garrard is still a very decent starting NFL QB.

The Jaguars have placed 23-year old DT D’Anthony Smith on the Injured Reserve List due to a foot injury.  This is Smith’s second year in the NFL and he will have missed both years due to injury.  Smith suffered an Achilles tendon tear last year as a rookie.  The former 3rd round pick isn’t likely to get many more chances with the Jaguars as he is starting to look quite injury proned.

The Jaguars have placed 25-year old CB David Jones on the Injured Reserve List due to an undisclosed injury.  Jones played in all 16 games for the Jaguars last year and he had 33 tackles, 3 passes defensed, 1 interception and 1 forced fumble.  He has now played in 49 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has 89 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, 1 interception and 10 passes defensed.

UPDATE:  (9/12/2011) – The Jaguars have released David Jones with an injury settlement.

The Jaguars have acquired 25-year old CB Dwight Lowery from the Jets for an undisclosed draft pick.  Lowery played in 14 games for the Jets last year and he had 19 tackles, 3 interceptions (2 returned for TDs), 7 passes defensed, 2 sacks and 2 fumble recoveries.  He has now played in 43 games in his first three years in the NFL and he has 107 tackles, 32 passes defensed, 7 interceptions (2 returned for TDs), 5 forced fumbles, 2 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries and 1 tackle for a loss.  This was a good deal for the Jaguars as Lowery is a big time playmaker.