Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Jordan Davis and safety Jessie Bates III, both acquired via trades this week, won’t play at Tennessee on Sunday.
Coach Liam Coen made the announcement Friday, saying both players will get the weekend off primarily because neither has had a bye week.
Jacksonville (6-2) swapped two draft picks for each of them a day before Tuesday’s trade deadline. The Jaguars already had their bye and close the season with nine consecutive games. Davis came from the Philadelphia Eagles, which are on their bye. And Bates came from the Atlanta Falcons, which have a bye next week.
So Coen decided the team would be best served by giving both players a weekend off and more time to get acclimated to new surroundings and a new defensive scheme. Neither newcomer practiced Wednesday or Thursday.
Defensive tackle Davon Godchaux, acquired from the New Orleans Saints the same day as Davis and Bates, is expected to play against the Tennessee Titans (1-7). Godchaux and the Saints had Week 8 off.
The Jags gave up a 2027 first-round draft pick and a 2029 second-rounder for Davis, who is expected to replace injured defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton (knee/quad). They gave up a 2027 second-rounder and a 2028 fifth-rounder for Bates, who will step in for Eric Murray (elbow). Hamilton and Murray are out for the season.
Davis, the No. 13 overall pick in the 2022 draft, has 1.5 sacks and an interception in nine games this season after setting career highs with 4.5 sacks and 72 tackles last year. He signed a three-year, $78 million extension with the Eagles in March that kicks in next season.
Bates, a three-time second-team All-Pro, has 60 tackles, three forced fumbles, an interception and a fumble-return touchdown this season. The nine-year veteran has 28 career interceptions and is in the final year of his contract.
“He has so much impact on a game,” Coen said Monday of Bates, whom he called “arguably a Top 5 player at his position.”
The moves came with Jacksonville holding a three-game lead in the AFC South and going all in on a push for the AFC’s No. 1 seed.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
