National Football League

Report: Jags turn to ball boys

Published Sep. 28, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Apparently, nobody wants to play wide receiver in Jacksonville.

A rash of injuries coupled with the suspension of Justin Blackmon have left Cecil Shorts and Ace Sanders as the Jaguars’ only active, healthy receivers for Sunday’s game against the Colts.

That has forced Jacksonville’s two practice squad wideouts, Tobias Palmer and Jeremy Ebert, to assume more prominent roles, leaving the team with a dearth of bodies at practice.

To combat this, ESPN.com’s Michael DiRocco reports that the Jaguars have been using ball boys, equipment assistants and practice squad quarterback Matt Scott as wide receivers on the scout team during practice this week.

Hopefully they fared better than Michigan’s towel boy.

The Jaguars, who fell to 0-3 after a 45-17 blowout in Seattle last weekend, are a team with a number of flaws, but their lack of any semblance of an air attack may be the most glaring.

Jacksonville ranks 29th in the NFL with 535 total passing yards through three games, and Blaine Gabbert and Chad Henne have combined for just one touchdown pass. While Shorts is a serviceable pass catcher and Sanders has impressed thus far as a rookie, Palmer and Ebert (a seventh-round pick by the Patriots last year) have just one NFL reception between them.