Jaguars defensive line has gone to the dogs

[Jaxson De Ville]

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Jaguars defensive line coach Jason Rebrovich is going to hunt with the dogs he has.

But his pack is a lot smaller than it was heading into camp.

The Jaguars are down six defensive linemen to injuries or opt-outs, have two others who will be suspended to start the season, and franchise-tagged defensive end Yannick Ngakoue still hasn’t signed or shown up. Despite that, Rebrovich is trying to press forward.

“My dad raised bird dogs when I was a kid and his deal was if he shot a shotgun and that dog shied away, that dog wasn’t a bird dog anymore,” Rebrovich said, via Garry Smits of the Florida Times-Union. “So you can sit there and say these are the guys that we got or these are the people that we have and you shoot those shotguns off and you say, ‘Let’s go, let’s blast and let’s get out there and play with whatever ones we’ve got out there.”

The tone for their line was set when Al Woods and end Lerentee McCray opted out because of COVID-19.

Along with the retirements of Aaron Lynch and Rodney Gunter (who walked away because of heart issues), the Jaguars have been strapped for help. Among those who remain, Josh Mauro will be suspended five games and tackle Carl Davis for four. They’ve backfilled by adding veteran Timmy Jernigan, but it’s getting harder to keep up with the attrition.