The Jacksonville Jaguars made three significant acquisitions at the trade deadline, but two won't be on the field for their Week 10 game against division rival Tennessee.
Head coach Liam Coen told the media on Friday that safety Jessie Bates III and defensive tackle Jordan Davis will not play in Jacksonville's road game in Tennessee. Coen cited that neither player has had a bye week yet, while the Jaguars have already taken theirs, as the primary reason for sitting them out in their first game with their new team. The second-year head coach added that they wanted to emphasize player safety and give the two an extra week to learn the Jaguars' playbook.
Defensive tackle Davon Godchaux, whom Jacksonville also acquired at the deadline in a trade with the New Orleans Saints, will play Sunday.
Jacksonville traded a 2027 second-round pick and 2028 fifth-round pick to the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for Bates, who is in the final year of his contract. He has recorded one interception, three forced fumbles, and 60 total tackles in nine games so far this season. Bates is expected to be a significant upgrade to the Jaguars' safety room, where they have given snaps to Antonio Johnson, Eric Murray, Rayuan Lane III and Kaevon Merriweather at different times this season.
The Jaguars traded a 2027 first-round pick and 2029 second-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for Davis, who is in the first year of a three-year, $78 million contract extension he signed with Philly this past offseason. Davis has recorded 31 tackles, two tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and three quarterback hits while playing 52% of the Eagles' snaps so far this year. Davis will slot into a defensive line that features Josh Hines-Allen, Travon Walker, Arik Armstead, the also-recently-acquired Davon Godchaux and Ruke Orhorhoro, among others, but that lost DaVon Hamilton to a significant injury.
The Jaguars paid a premium to acquire them, but Bates and Davis should prove important down the stretch and into the playoffs. We'll just have to wait at least a week to see them in uniform for the first time.
