JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen will be without one of his players in Week 7.
The Jaguars announced on Monday that linebacker Devin Lloyd has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Rams in London.
Lloyd, who was named AFC Defensive Player of the Month after the first month of the season, played few snaps against the Seattle Seahawks in the 20-12 loss in Week 6 due to a calf injury.
“Just a couple of medical updates, injuries. [LB] Devin Lloyd we’re currently evaluating for a calf. He was cleared, played the first half. Tightened up on him at halftime, went to go in the second half a little bit. It was just too tight," Coen said.
"So, made a decision as coaches to get Ventrell [LB Ventrell Miller] in. Ventrell played well. He was cleared medically to play, but we just felt like, as coaches, watching him run a little bit, that it was just too tight. So played Ventrell, got him going and we're currently just kind of being able to test Devin and look at it right now to see if he'll be able to go for us this week."
With Lloyd not set to play in Week 7 against the Los Angeles Rams, the Jaguars will once again turn to Miller in his place next to fellow starting linebacker Foyesade Oluokun.
“His moment, he got a lot of confidence from last year. Credit to him for staying dialed in, understanding all the calls and he doesn't really skip a beat with communication," Oluokun said about Miller on Monday. "And he plays hard. He is really fast, physical, slices in the run game, so he’s always been a playmaker. It's just getting more and more ops [opportunities], so I'm excited to see what he can do when his name's called.”
Lloyd has been a key piece of the Jaguars' defensive turnaround this season, recording four interceptions in the first six games.
"I just think that he is a great fit for what we do. To me, he's just a true three-down linebacker. There's just not that many three-down linebackers in football, and some guys are three down linebackers in a certain way and some are three down linebackers in another way," Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile said earlier this month.
"Meaning that some guys may be out there and hey they do a bunch of stuff in the coverage, they're kind of a lighter guy and they're off the ball off the ball all the time but he's a guy, I've said this about him in the past, that has a very unique skill set in that he could play on the edge early down. If you lined him up outside as an open five-technique on a tackle or a nine-technique on a tight end, he can do a really good job there, setting the edge, zone drop and all that stuff."
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