Is Zay Jones playing today? Latest on Jaguars WR for Texans clash

Ever since he joined them in 2022, Zay Jones has been one of the most potent weapons for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He helped the team clinch its first AFC South title in five years and was a key component in their historic 31-30 comeback victory against the Los Angeles Chargers in January.

And this week, they greatly need his services in a massive Week 12 clash against the divisional rival Houston Texans. But if recent reports are any indication, the former Buffalo Bill and Oakland/Las Vegas Raider may be absent.

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What happened to Zay Jones?

Zay Jones scores vs Buffalo Bills

On Friday, the Jacksonville Jaguars announced that Zay Jones would be questionable for Sunday with a knee injury. It is unknown when it happened, but he had been a limited participant in practice for three straight days.

This is the second time he has hurt his knee in 2023. The first was in Week 2 against the Kansas City Chiefs, then he did it again in Week 5 against the Buffalo Bills.

Jones was also arrested for suspected domestic battery a day after a loss to the San Francisco 49ers, but it did not affect his status for the Jaguars' defeat of the Titans. He did not address it in the post-game locker room scrum, merely saying:

“Just at this stage in my life, I’m learning how to be present and just enjoying where I’m at. It’s not easy because as a competitor you want to be out there. But I’ve learned a lot about myself in the time I’ve been hurt on the sideline … but ultimately, I was brought here to help win football games.”

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How has Zay Jones performed this season?

Jacksonville Jaguars v Indianapolis Colts

Trevor Lawrence has a plethora of weapons to work with in 2023 - Travis Etienne, Calvin Ridley, Christian Kirk, and Evan Engram. But while his second-most prolific pass catcher may currently have just 98 yards to his name, he has also contributed to wins just by his presence.

Ridley himself noted that in his own locker room comments:

“Zay is one of the leaders in our room. It just helps the offense settle down and we have a lot of options to be more ourselves as part of the offensive style.”

The Jaguars-Texans game is expeted to kick off at 1 PM ET.