The Jacksonville Jaguars (4-3) deactivated (suspended?) running back Leonard Fournette Sunday in the minutes leading up to kickoff. (If you hear a faint whimper off in the distance, it’s Fournette’s fantasy owners that didn’t have time to get him out of their lineup.)
Field Yates of ESPN and Jay Glazer of Fox Sports each reported that the suspension was due, in part, to Fournette missing a team picture earlier in the week. The report from Glazer also included that the rookie missed a treatment session for his injured ankle as well as a team workout.
Should be noted that there are layers to this. The photo was a part of it, but other factors were prominently involved in deactivation. https://t.co/bYk5kdpshH
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) November 5, 2017
Sources tell me Fournette missed treatment, workout and team photo this week, hence his benching, tho there’s more to it
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) November 5, 2017
It’s weird that both Yates and Glazer give solid details (in regards to the team picture) in their reporting, yet leave it open-ended, right? And it’s weird that – if Leonard Fournette was M.I.A. throughout the week – the Jaguars would literally wait ”til the last minute to decide (and/or announce) their star rookie was not active, right?
For the Jaguars part, they did not do anything to dispell any notions that there’s more to the story. Head coach Doug Marrone released a statement just before Jacksonville’s home game against Cincinnati.
Marrone’s statement included the following:
Leonard Fournette is not playing in today’s game due to an infraction of a team rule … [t]his has been addressed internally and further details will not be made public.
On the season, Leonard Fournette has 596 yards on 130 carries (4.6 yards/attempt) and six touchdowns. He’s also been a bit of a weapon out of the backfield in the passing game, catching 15 balls for 136 yards and one receiving score.
In Fournette’s place, Jacksonville will rely on Chris Ivory and T.J. Yeldon.
