JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jaguars finally got some good news concerning their receivers: It looks like Cecil Shorts and Allen Hurns will be able to play against the Colts on Sunday.
Shorts (hamstring) and Hurns (ankle) are listed as probable for the Jaguars' home opener. That helps the offense deal with the loss of Marqise Lee, who is out with a hamstring injury. It appeared earlier in the week that all three players might not be able to play against the Colts.
This will be the season debut for Shorts, who missed 23 days of training camp and the preseason with a right hamstring injury and then felt tightness in his left hamstring on Sept. 4 and missed the first two games.
"I think that we'll see how he feels but it went pretty good out there," coach Gus Bradley said after Friday's practice. "If everything goes good and we get the report [that he hasn't had a setback], then he'll start."
Shorts is the Jaguars' most experienced receiver, with 123 catches for 1,786 yards and 11 touchdowns in his first three seasons, and the Jaguars desperately need his help. The offense had been relying on rookies Lee, Hurns and Allen Robinson as well as second-year player Mike Brown (35 career catches), and Bradley said the group committed 15 mental errors in last week's loss to Washington.
Hurns is an undrafted rookie who won a spot on the roster during training camp and had a record-setting debut. He caught four passes for 110 yards and two touchdowns against Philadelphia, becoming just the second player in NFL history to score touchdowns on his first two career receptions and the first to score two receiving touchdowns in the first quarter of his NFL debut.
He suffered a sprained ankle late in the Jaguars' 41-10 loss to Washington last Sunday and did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday. He was a full participant on Friday.
"Hurns practiced pretty well today, so we feel pretty good about that one," Bradley said.
