A day after the Jacksonville Jaguars lost a veteran member of the practice squad, they have found a replacement.
Former Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Zech McPhearson signed with the Jaguars’ practice squad on Tuesday, giving the Jaguars a replacement for Terrell Edmunds after the Pittsburgh Steelers signed him to their active roster on Monday.
While McPhearson was not signed to the active roster, he does give them some depth at cornerback alongside fellow practice squad cornerback Christian Braswell and backup cornerbacks Jarrian Jones, Montaric Brown, and De’Antre Prince.
The Jaguars are set to be without cornerback Tyson Campbell for an undefined amount of time after he suffered a hamstring injury against the Miami Dolphins in Week 1. Campbell fought through hamstring injuries in 2023 and Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said on Monday that his star cornerback would “miss some time.”
In McPhearson, the Jaguars at least have another name who has spent time in an NFL secondary. McPhearson could also give the Jaguars a boost in special teams depth as they deal with an Achilles injury to Daniel Thomas and a knee injury with Andrew Wingard.
Whether this signing is related to Campbell’s injury and how much time he may potentially miss will be determined. But for now, the Jaguars’ defensive secondary continues to be a fluid unit that sees plenty of changes and new faces from week to week.
McPhearson was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth round (123rd overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft. In 2022, he played in 17 games and recorded five tackles, one tackle for loss, 1.0 sack, one quarterback hit and one pass defensed. He spent the 2023 season on injured reserve.
A native of Columbia, Md., McPhearson played two seasons at Penn State (2017-18) before transferring to Texas Tech (2019-20). He finished his senior season ranked third in the Big 12 and tied for eighth in the FBS with four interceptions, and fifth in the conference with 10 passes defensed.
In 2020, McPhearson was also one of four players nationally with at least four interceptions and two fumble recoveries and earned an AP All-Big 12 First Team selection.
