A win is all the Jacksonville Jaguars need to clinch the AFC South crown. It should be easy, as they are playing the Tennessee Titans, and Cam Ward left the game with a shoulder injury after scoring the opening touchdown. The Jaguars bounced back with a couple of scores of their own. They did lose one of their top receivers to injury with Brian Thomas Jr. exiting the game.
What Happened to Brian Thomas Jr.?
Thomas left the game in the first half with a head injury and headed to the locker room for further examination.
This is a blow to the Jacksonville offense as it heads into the postseason. Head injuries are not to be taken lightly and can take more than a week to recover, putting his postseason availability in doubt. Thomas had one catch for 22 yards before leaving the game.
Status alert: Brian Thomas Jr. (head) headed to locker room Sunday.
— Underdog NFL (@UnderdogNFL) January 4, 2026
Thomas ranks 72nd in PFSN’s WR Impact Metric with an impact score of 71.2. After an impressive rookie campaign, he hasn’t been the same receiver. Thomas suffered from a sophomore slump, and if he doesn’t return, he won’t get to 700 receiving yards after going for nearly 1,300 in 2024.
The Jaguars have the receiving threats to weather the storm. After Travis Hunter’s season was cut short due to a season-ending injury, Jacksonville brought in Jakobi Meyers to lessen the blow. He’s been great for Jacksonville and got an extension to stay with the Jaguars beyond this season.
If Thomas is out for today and even in the postseason, Meyers and Parker Washington will get the bulk of the receptions, with TE Brenton Strange and RB Travis Etienne Jr. being active participants as well. The emergence of Strange and Washington has helped the Jacksonville passing attack have plenty of success this season.
Trevor Lawrence has been on an absolute tear in the second half of the season. He has led this Jaguars offense to explosive performances and is doing so again today, despite playing without Thomas. The Jaguars found their rhythm after falling behind and rattled off four straight touchdowns to close out the first half.
The Jacksonville locker room can start getting ready for celebrations as a three-touchdown deficit without Cam Ward seems insurmountable for Tennessee, and the Jaguars will be the AFC South champions. They’ll be hoping Thomas is going to be okay, but they’ll be celebrating that the division is theirs. Now, they can start scoreboard watching later in the day for the chance to be the No. 1 seed in the AFC with a Denver and New England loss.
Editor’s Note: This is a breaking news story and will be updated throughout the day as more information becomes available.
