Jaguars' practice squad players don't get to travel to games but they still get paid $7,200 per week (2024)

Just like two weeks ago when the Jaguars played at Pittsburgh, rookie defensive end Carroll Phillips made sure he got all of his favorite snacks before this past Sunday’s game at Indianapolis.

Unlike his teammates, he didn’t have to worry about going through pre-game workouts or putting on pads or his helmet. But like them, he practiced the entire week and watched significant amounts of game tape on the Indianapolis Colts, particularly their defensive front.

He also was required to attend all of the defensive line meetings throughout the week.

But instead of joining his teammates at Lucas Oil Stadium, Phillips sat on his couch at his apartment in Jacksonville with his buffalo wings, sandwiches and potato chips and watched the Jaguars’ 27-0 rout of the Colts on his big screen television at his apartment in Jacksonville just like a fan.

Phillips plays for the Jaguars, but he is not on their active 53-man roster.

He is on their practice-squad, which includes nine other players.

Practice-squad players are not allowed to dress for games or travel to road games unless it’s a extended four-day trip like the Jaguars made to London last month to play the Baltimore Ravens at Wembley Stadium.

“As a competitor, it hurts bad,” Phillips said. “Seeing my teammates out there, I went through OTA’s, the grind and the grit with these guys. Just seeing them out there having fun, you know I just feel like an outsider - not really bringing nothing to the table. That’s why I come to practice and go hard to give them a great look.

“When I was in college, I was a starter and the walk-ons were giving us the look of the upcoming opponent. Now, I see how that feels. I go out there every day to get better.”

It may be a non-glamorous job compared to being on the 53-man roster, but it still has it rewards. All practice squad players make at least the minimum of $7,200 a week. If they stay on for the entire 17-week season they will earn $122,400, according to the league’s current collective bargaining agreement.

And some teams pay their practice squad players more than the minimum and there’s no limit on how much teams can pay a practice squad player.

“I would be hurt if a practice squad player felt like he wasn’t part of it and we weren’t trying to do everything we could to make him a better player,” Jaguars coach Doug Marrone said. “Development is a big thing for me. I like to be able to bring – if we have an injury, bring the players up from the practice squad. That’s why they’re here.”

Phillips, an undrafted rookie free agent out of Illinois, landed a spot on the practice squad after being waived during the Jaguars’ 53-man roster cuts in September.

Although the Jaguars appear to be high on Phillips’ potential as an edge rusher, some of his practice-squad teammates haven’t been as fortunate in keeping their practice squad spots.

Only four of the 10-players initially put on the practice squad in early September remain with the Jaguars. They include tight end David Grinnage, defensive end Hunter Dimick, wide receiver Larry Pinkard and Phillips.

With an obvious high turnover rate, the Jaguars have already made eight transactions involving their practice squad this month, which included releasing offensive lineman Norman Price on Tuesday and promoting first-year wide receiver Jaydon Mickens to the active 53-man roster after he was briefly on the practice squad.

Two weeks ago, the Jaguars promoted offensive guard Chris Reed from the practice squad to the active 53-man roster after waiving third-string quarterback Ryan Nassib.

“As much as you fight to get brought up to the 53-man roster, you are also fighting to keep your job,” said Dimick, who is also getting worked at fullback. “It’s a production-based business and if you are not doing your part they will find someone else that they think can do it better for the time being.

“Every play is getting recorded from four different angles, so there is not a rep that isn’t getting watched by a lot of people in the organization. So every rep is taken seriously.”

On the practice field, they are easy to spot. The Jaguars’ practice players wear gold-colored jerseys with black numbers. They take part in all individual drills, but they are usually are the ones that’s last in line behind the starters, second and third-stringers before getting their rep.

Phillips said he spent all last week at practice trying to imitate everything that Colts edge rusher Jabaal Sheard does to help prepare the Jaguars’ offensive line. Sheard had three tackles on Sunday, but he didn’t get a sack on quarterback Blake Bortles despite that starting tackle Cam Robinson was forced out of the game on the second play of the game with a sprained ankle and starting center Brandon Linder missed his third consecutive game because of an unspecified illness.

“We definitely feel like we are part of the 53-man roster and for good reason because you can move up or down,” said undrafted rookie safety Charlie Miller, who was signed to the practice squad last week after he was waived in July by the Jaguars after reaching an injury settlement.

“As a practice squad player, you are emulating what the opponent does. In those few reps, you really got to make the most of them and show the coaches that you know what you are doing.”