Evaluating Brian Thomas Jr.’s first game back from injury with Jaguars

Jacksonville Jaguars standout second-year wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. played his first game since going down with an ankle injury in the Jaguars' Week 9 overtime victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. Despite playing in only eight games entering Week 13, Thomas Jr. is only one yard shy of being the Jaguars’ leading receiver.

Parker Washington, who has tallied 35 receptions for 421 yards and three touchdowns, is the leader in that department, while Thomas Jr. has notched 30 receptions for 420 yards and a touchdown. Thomas Jr. got involved early in the Jaguars offense, catching an 11-yard pass on Jacksonville’s first drive of the day. However, Thomas Jr.’s lack of production in receptions did not take away from the effort he displayed on the field. Late in the first quarter, Thomas Jr landed a massive block on Titans safety Amani Hooker, to help tack on a few extra yards to Jakobi Meyers’ 50-yard catch and run.

The 50-yard gain, capped off by Thomas Jr.’s block, set up the Jaguars’ first touchdown of the day, and first lead of the day – a lead they would hold for the remainder of the game. Midway through the third quarter, after quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw an incompletion on second down, and the Jaguars were penalized for a false start on third down to set up a long conversion attempt, Thomas Jr. caught his longest pass of the day – a 17-yard grab for a first down.

Thomas Jr. finished the game with two catches - both for first downs - while averaging 6.0 yards after the catch and played 47 snaps, per PFF.

It was not the electric performance that some may have expected, but he played a solid game while finding his role in the Jaguars' newfound passing offense. In his absence, the Jaguars notched a 2-1 record in Weeks 10-12 with wins over the Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Chargers and a loss to the Houston Texans, but managed to fill the hole left in their wide receiver room. A big part of filling that gap was bringing in former Raiders’ wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, just days after Jacksonville’s Week 9 overtime contest with Las Vegas.

Since joining the Jaguars, Meyers has caught 12 of 15 passes for 155 yards and a touchdown entering Week 13. Washington’s production has also increased in Thomas Jr. absence. He has caught two of his three touchdowns in the past three weeks and has been Lawrence's favorite target in both games he scored.

Thomas Jr.'s production will increase as he gets more time in practice to reconnect with Lawrence, and when it happens, the Jaguars will now have Meyers, Washington, and Thomas Jr. as they look to clinch a playoff bid in the AFC.

This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Recapping Brian Thomas Jr.'s Week 13 performance in Jaguars' win