DaVon Hamilton ‘getting closer’ to return, says Doug Pederson
Jacksonville Jaguars defensive lineman DaVon Hamilton is on the road to a return to the field, coach Doug Pederson told reporters Friday.
“DaVon is getting closer to getting back out on the field,” Pederson said. “He’s been lifting and working out and conditioning and all that … as far as the London trip, we’re probably not going to take him. We want to keep him here so there’s no setbacks, we’re in a different part of the world obviously and we want to keep things pretty consistent around him right now, he’s on a good track for getting back soon.”
Hamilton, 26, landed on the injured reserve at the end of preseason as he dealt with what the Jaguars called a “non-football related medical issue” with his back. That ruled the defensive lineman out for the first four weeks of the year and the decision not to bring him to London means he’ll miss Week 5, as well.
The 2020 third-round pick looked on track for a big year in 2023 after putting together an impressive training camp and preseason. Earlier this year, he received a three-year, $34.5 million contract extension from the Jaguars.
Jacksonville currently has five players on its injured reserve: Hamilton, Cooper Hodges, Gregory Junior, Ventrell Miller, and Jaylon Moore. It also has Dawuane Smoot on the physically unable to perform list.
