Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Jordan Davis and safety Jessie Bates III, both acquired via trades this week, will not play at Tennessee on Sunday.
Coach Liam Coen made the announcement on Friday, saying both players will have the weekend off mainly because neither has had a bye week.
Jacksonville (6-2) traded two draft picks for each a day before Tuesday’s trade deadline. The Jaguars already had a bye and ended the season with a nine game streak. Davis came from the Philadelphia Eagles, who are waiting for them. And Bates came over from the Atlanta Falcons, who have a bye next week.
So Coen decided the team would be best served by giving both players a weekend off and more time to adjust to a new environment and a new defensive scheme. Neither did the newcomer practice on Wednesday or Thursday.
Vom Godchaux protective treatment, taken by the New Orleans Saints same day as Davis and Bates, is expected to play against the Tennessee Titans (1-7). Godchaux and the Saints had Week 8 off.
The Jags gave up a 2027 first-round draft pick and a 2029 second-round pick for Davis, who is expected to replace injured defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton (knee/quad). They gave up one The second round of 2027 and the fifth round of 2028 for Bates, who will replace Eric Murray (elbow). Hamilton and Murray are out for the season.
Davis, the no. 13 overall in the 2022 draft, has 1.5 sacks and an interception in nine games this season after setting career highs with 4.5 sacks and 72 tackles last year. He signed a three-year, $78 million extension with the Eagles in March that begins next season.
Bates, a three-time second team All-Pro, has 60 tackles, three forced fumbles, one interception and one fumble return this season. The nine-year veteran has 28 career interceptions and is in the final year of his contract.
“He has so much impact on a game,” Coen said Monday of Bates, who he called “probably a Top 5 player at his position.”
The moves came with Jacksonville holding a three-game lead in the AFC South and going all in in a push for No. 1 in the AFL.
Reporting by the Associated Press.