Jaguars vs. Titans: Jordan Smith, Jay Tufele Inactive in Nashville

The Jacksonville Jaguars will hope to steal a win on the road in Nashville against the Tennessee Titans in Week 14, but they will do so without a host of young players and depth pieces. 

The Jaguars (2-10) released their weekly inactive list ahead of Sunday's 1 p.m. kickoff, with the list featuring two of the team's rookie draft picks along with veterans on both sides of the ball.  The following players will be inactive and unavailable for the Jaguars.

• CB Tre Herndon 

• OL Brandon Linder 

• TE Jacob Hollister 

• DE/OLB Jordan Smith 

• DT Jay Tufele

Linder is missing the game with a back injury while the other four players on the inactive list are healthy scratches. Linder left last week's game with the injury and has missed five other starts this year due to injuries, which has led to backup center Tyler Shatley playing an equally important role in the offense. 

"Yeah, he is my MVP. First of all, he is a good player, second of all he works every week as if he is the starter," Urban Meyer said on Friday about Shatley. "Back in 2017, I remember our owner was telling a story about when [Brandon] Linder went down and Shat jumped in there and you didn’t miss a beat. I can’t imagine a more valuable player on our team, at that position.”

Aside from Linder, the Jaguars are sitting a veteran cornerback with starting experience in Herndon and are still sitting tight end Jacob Hollister even despite Dan Arnold's injury. Hollister hasn't recorded an offensive snap since Week 6, while Herndon has been in and out of the lineup with a knee injury. 

The Jaguars are also sitting each of their fourth-round rookies in Jordan Smith and Jay Tufele. Tufele just returned last week from injured reserve after a hand injury knocked him out for over a month, but the Jaguars played him in part due to an injury to DaVon Hamilton. With Hamilton playing this Sunday, Tufele will be a healthy scratch.

Smith was a player the Jaguars traded up for in April's draft but he has yet to log a single snap as a rookie, being ruled inactive every single game this season. The Jaguars have a host of players ahead of Smith on the depth chart, though defensive coordinator Joe Cullen said this week he wants him to remain ready to play. 

“I told Jordan, just be ready like that, snap of a finger. He’s working really well in practice and the opportunity’s going to come," Cullen said on Thursd

(On DE/OLB Jordan Smith’s progress in practice) “You can definitely see him, he’s working hard, trying to rip the ball out of the offense’s hands, playing with technique. He’s more physical, he’s in a lot better shape, so he’s really grown in terms of sometimes it’s hard as a rookie comes in and some guys are more developed, whatever it might be. But he’s continuing to go like that [hand motion upward]. He’s going to get his opportunity. When he does, you have to cash in. You get 15 reps, make sure they’re 15 great reps and you get more.”