Where is Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Evan Engram in his hamstring recovery heading into Week 4 against the Houston Texans?

“He could be right here in Jacksonville,” Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said Friday.

Engram was ruled out for Sunday’s AFC South contest, which will be his third missed start of the season after 35 consecutive starts as a Jaguar.

Engram injured his hamstring during warmups before the Jaguars’ Week 2 game against the Cleveland Browns and has not practiced or played since.

“He’s fine. I doubt he will make it this game. Again, they’re just picky with the Achilles tendon, let’s call it that. “So that would be too far-fetched,” Pederson said.

Although Engram will miss another game this Sunday, it doesn’t look like he’s a candidate for injured reserve. Perhaps Engram will return in Week 5 against the Indianapolis Colts. But Engram has to watch again this week.

“I do not believe that. Next week looks promising. But again, it’s only been a few weeks,” Pederson said.

The Jaguars were badly bitten by the injury bug in 2024. Engram is the key missing piece on offense as the efficiency of the red zone passing game has plummeted in his absence.

In 2022-23, Engram ranked 10th in touchdown catches, 4th in receiving yards, 2nd in receptions, 6th in yards per game and 3rd in targets among all tight ends.

In 2023, Engram caught 114 passes for 963 yards and four touchdowns, becoming the eighth tight end to ever catch 100 or more passes in the Super Bowl era.

With Engram out for another week, the Jaguars are expected to rely on second-year tight end Brenton Strange as the starter.

Strange has caught five passes for 77 yards and a touchdown in Engram’s absence, already matching his catch and touchdown totals from his rookie year and more than doubling his rookie year yardage.

“Yeah, and I think his ability to run really good routes is physically demanding. “He’s not as elusive as Engram, but he’s really shown that he’s definitely capable of handling more, let’s say, on offense,” Pederson said of Strange.

“He did a really good job. And then there’s the blocking aspect. We knew that, but that’s part of it, and he was solid there.”

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