Julius Thomas now expected to miss significant time with finger injury

The Jacksonville Jaguars spent big money on a splashy free-agent addition, former Denver Broncos tight end Julius Thomas. The Jaguars are going to have to wait a while to see him in action though.

Thomas is expected to need surgery on a tendon in his finger and will miss 4-5 weeks, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. He is seeking a second opinion.

This is another tough blow for a Jaguars team that already lost pass rusher Dante Fowler, the third pick of the draft, way back in his first offseason minicamp.

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Thomas suffered a broken middle finger in the Jaguars’ preseason opener, but he was supposed to be ready for Week 1. Something clearly changed in the diagnosis. The Jaguars were hoping Thomas gave them another piece on offense to help quarterback Blake Bortles’ development. They do have young receivers like Allen Robinson, Marqise Lee and Allen Hurns, and are excited for rookie running back T.J. Yeldon, but Thomas would have been a nice threat, especially in the red zone. Thomas had 12 touchdowns each of the last two seasons catching balls from Denver’s Peyton Manning.

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The season hasn’t even started and the Jaguars lost their most exciting addition on defense for the whole season and their most exciting offensive addition for perhaps a quarter of the season. That doesn’t make their rebuilding efforts any easier.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab