D.J. Chark was back at Jaguars practice for the first time in three days Sunday after missing time with a "minor injury." However, he was sporting a soft cast on his hand.
Uh oh.
It appears that minor injury to his hand resulted in minor surgery.
“Yeah, he had surgery, has a minor break, hairline," head coach Urban Meyer said following the Jaguars' annual Training Camp scrimmage. "They plated it, and he should be here for the first game.”
A Pro Bowler in 2019, Chark took a step back in his third year in the NFL, tallying 706 yards on 53 receptions in 13 games with five touchdowns. He became the Jaguars first 1,000-yard receiver since 2015 when he tallied 1,008 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in 2019.
Since taking over the organization, Meyer has openly challenged Chark to improve not only his numbers but his physical composition for this upcoming season.
“He didn’t play well last year and obviously, his first year he was very good,” Meyer told reporters during June's OTAs. “I just didn’t like his size, his strength, I just thought it was way below average, way below what we expect from our receivers.”
Chark has responded by adding ten pounds of muscle this off-season.
“I love talking to Coach Meyer. He’s a competitor. He’s going to push me," Chark told reporters in June. "He also knows I’m going to do what I do; I’m going to step up, I’m going to make plays. He’s given me good advice, told me to go get in the weight room. I get in the weight room, I put the weight on, but I know, once again, I’m like that."
