Jaguars Bitter AFC Rival in Disarray on Defense?
The Jacksonville Jaguars have plenty of issues of their own, but they don't have the problems some of their AFC South rivals have.
For starters, the Indianapolis Colts' porous run defense is one of the worst in the entire NFL and they will be without star defensive tackle DeForest Buckner for at least the next four weeks.
And to rub salt in the wound, the Colts appear to have some discontent from one of their primary backups behind Buckner.
That backup would be none other than former Jaguars defensive lineman and first-round bust Taven Bryan, who is in his second season with the Colts.
Speaking with Nate Atkins of the Indianapolis Star , Bryan expressed displeasure with his current role in the Colts' defense. The role sees Bryan splitting time at nose tackle, and the former Jaguars draft pick did not mince words when asked for his feelings on playing the position.
"I can play either. I don't really care for nose, but I can play it," Bryan told Atkins. "We won't lose because of it, but it's not going to look that great."
Jacksonville took Bryan, an athletic but raw product out of Florida, with the No. 29 overall pick in 2018, passing over other players like Jackson, Nick Chubb, Harold Landry, Jessie Bates, Christian Kirk, and Dallas Goedert.
The plan was for Bryan to be a cheap contract along the defensive line to replace expensive veterans like Malik Jackson, but Bryan bounced between defensive end and defensive tackle for the Jaguars during the early stage of his career.
After just 11 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks through the first 48 games of his career - which saw the Jaguars turn to him as a starter just 17 times - Bryan was given one last chance under the Urban Meyer regime in 2021.
Bryan ended up recording four tackles for loss and two sacks, all while not starting a game.
The Jaguars let Bryan walk in free agency after the 2021 season, with the former first-rounder spending a season with the Cleveland Browns before signing with the Colts last offseason.
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