LONDON
The Jacksonville Jaguars won in London on Sunday. They may have lost their left tackle for a long time doing it. Anton Harrison left Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles with a knee injury, and, according to Jaguars Wire, he is expected to undergo a procedure once the team returns from London — with a recovery timeline that, according to Jaguars Wire, will only be determined during that surgery and could range from several weeks to several months.
According to Jaguars Wire, the report comes from NFL Network's Ian Rapoport: Harrison is expected to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery once back from London, and depending on what the surgeon finds, he could be out three to five weeks, which would likely include a stint on injured reserve, or he could be sidelined three to four months and be out for the regular season. Jaguars Wire called that a drastic difference in outcomes, and it is hard to argue: the same procedure either costs Jacksonville its blindside protector for a month or for the year.
How the Injury Happened
According to the Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville.com), Harrison was injured in the third quarter of the Oct. 11 game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium while trying to block Eagles defensive lineman Moro Ojomo, with less than 10 minutes left in the period, and he was taken off the field on a cart. According to Jaguars Wire's initial game report, Harrison grabbed at his knee during the play and was downgraded from questionable to out, with veteran Walker Little taking over at left tackle.
The update timeline shows a team waiting on information. According to Jaguars Wire, head coach Liam Coen said on Monday that Harrison had undergone an MRI that day and the Jaguars were still waiting on the results, describing Harrison as a little stiff and saying the team would have to be patient. The Florida Times-Union likewise reported that Coen said the team was at the mercy of the MRI results. The Rapoport report carried by Jaguars Wire on Tuesday is the next step in that sequence: a procedure is expected, and the answers will come from it.
Little Stepped In — and Did Not Blink
The immediate replacement audition went about as well as Jacksonville could have hoped. According to Jaguars Wire's snap-count review of the Eagles game, Little played 31 snaps at left tackle after Harrison exited and did not allow a single quarterback pressure. Sports Illustrated's Jaguars coverage put the same performance in Pro Football Focus terms: according to SI, Little allowed zero pressures on 18 pass-blocking snaps against a tough Eagles front.
According to Jaguars Wire, Little is the presumptive starter in Harrison's absence for straightforward reasons: he is experienced, with 39 career starts, he is familiar with Coen's offense, and he has been cross-trained, including work at right tackle. The Florida Times-Union reached the same conclusion from Coen's Monday remarks, reporting that if Harrison cannot play, Walker Little will start. Jacksonville's next test is not a soft one: the Jaguars stay in London to face the Houston Texans on Oct. 18.
The Other Options, and Why Each Is Complicated
According to Jaguars Wire's breakdown of the left-tackle options, Cole Van Lanen has left tackle experience, but moving him would mean disrupting two positions rather than filling one, since Little has been cross-trained at right tackle and the staff may not view a double move as prudent. Wyatt Milum was a college left tackle, according to Jaguars Wire, but he spent much of training camp on the right side and his play was up and down. Daniel Faalele has some tackle experience, according to Jaguars Wire, but he has mostly played right guard and has not yet been active for a game this season.
Looking outside does not solve it either. According to Jaguars Wire, the free-agent market at this stage of the season has little to offer at tackle, the depth on the 53-man roster will still have to be replenished one way or another, and while general manager James Gladstone could explore trade options, teams typically are not trading away starting-caliber left tackles. In other words, the realistic plan is the one already on the roster: Little starts, the depth chart shuffles behind him, and everyone waits on the surgery.
What Jacksonville Loses While It Waits
Harrison is not a fungible piece. According to the Florida Times-Union, Harrison has been durable throughout his career, missing only three of 56 games since his rookie season in 2023, and Jaguars Wire noted he was a first-round pick in that 2023 draft who played right tackle for his first three seasons before moving to left tackle this season while Van Lanen was sidelined — a move the Jaguars kept even after Van Lanen returned. A team does not rearrange its line around a player it does not believe in.
For a Jaguars team that, according to SI, improved to 4-1 with the win over Philadelphia, the stakes of the timeline are obvious. Three to five weeks means surviving a stretch with a proven backup and getting its starter back for the season's decisive months. Three to four months means the offensive line Jacksonville finishes the season with is the one it is building right now, starting with Little against Houston. Until the procedure is done, according to Jaguars Wire, nobody — not the team, not the player, not the fans planning around it — knows which season this is. Follow the rest of the NFL week in the Previously sports section, including what the Patriots' rout revealed about the Raiders and the fight that followed the Bills' overtime win over the Rams.
