Losing a starting left tackle is a back-breaking injury for most teams, but the Jacksonville Jaguars offense didn’t take a back step when Cam Robinson suffered a meniscus injury that landed him on injured reserve.
Instead, the Jaguars moved second-year offensive tackle Walker Little to a starting role and kept on chugging along.
“He’s the type of player that we thought he is, he’s done a good job,” Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said of Little. “This will be a really good test whether it’s [Joey] Bosa or [Khalil] Mack, these guys like to trade sides a little bit. It’s going to be good for him. It’s going to be a benchmark game for him and his progression.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in Walker and what he’s done here in the last month has been pretty special for us. He’s helped us win these last few games.”
Little, 23, was picked in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft and started three games last year as a rookie. He seemed primed to take a starting role in 2022, but he was beat out in camp for the right tackle job by Jawaan Taylor.
The Jaguars allowed 28 sacks during the regular season, fifth fewest in the NFL. Little, who started the last three games at left tackle, was credited by Pro Football Focus with allowing one of those sacks.
