Jaguars ILB Shaq Quarterman is used to battling for his professional life; 2022 is no different
It’s been an uphill battle for Shaquille Quarterman every step of his professional life.
Why should his third year in the NFL be any different?
When the Oakleaf graduate was drafted out of Miami in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft, the Jaguars were running a 4-3 defense under coordinator Todd Wash and he was behind Joe Schobert, one of the team’s top free-agent signees that year.
The Jags switched last season to a 3-4 under coordinator Joe Cullen and Quarterman was behind another free-agent signee, Damien Wilson.
Schobert and Wilson are gone. So, too, are other inside linebackers Myles Jack, Quincy Williams and Dakota Allen.
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So Quarterman, ever the good trooper, finds himself battling from behind again as the Jaguars' new staff signed free agents Foyesade Oluokun and Tyrell Adams, drafted Devin Lloyd in the first round and plucked Chad Muma in the third.
Here’s the kicker: Quarterman isn’t sure he’d want it any other way.
“I came out of Miami … that’s a competitive situation,” he said. “Competition makes you better. Whoever they bring in, I’m going to keep working.”
Quarterman has taken advantage of a freak injury to Lloyd to split first-team reps at inside linebacker with Muma, alongside Oluokun. Quarterman has flashed in the past week, with his best play a deflection of a Trevor Lawrence pass during a goal-line play that wound up in the hands of Shaq Griffin for Lawrence’s only pick of training camp so far.
On Sunday, the first day in full pads, he came up nicely on a run to stop Snoop Conner cold. Monday showed more of the same stoutness against the run, with a big stuff of Ryquell Armstead.
Quarterman also should remain a vital player on special teams, even if Lloyd returns and assumes the starting spot at linebacker. Over his first two pro seasons, Quarterman had 11 special-teams tackles, the second-most on the team during that span behind Dare Ogunbowale (16).
Quarterman is the shortest inside linebacker in the current two-deep rotation at 6 feet, and he weighs 240 pounds. He’s not the fastest at his position group.
But he’d never concerned himself with how big or how fast … only results.
“We’re not running track out there,” he said. “We’re not having a weight-lifting contest. It’s football.”
Defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell, who lasted 11 years in the NFL at 5 pounds lighter than Quarterman and only 2 inches taller, also said he sees the value to the team beyond measurables.
“He’s a football player,” Caldwell said. “You say he’s not the fastest, not the biggest, but he’s a guy who’s made a bunch of plays in his career, and we’re looking for that to continue.”
Lloyd sustained a hamstring injury on July 24, the day the team reported to training camp, during drills to measure their conditioning. At the time coach Doug Pederson described the injury as “nothing too significant.”
However, Lloyd has been working on the sideline since then. The staff is showing patience, given a training camp that includes an extra preseason game, beginning with the Hall of Fame game on Thursday against the Raiders in Canton, Ohio.
“There’s really no timetable on Devin,” Caldwell said. “He’s still out there getting the mental reps and progressing on the sidelines just like we talked about.”
But the longer Lloyd stays out, the tougher the eventual decision splitting playing time among Lloyd, Muma and Quarterman might be for the coaches.
Contact Garry Smits at gsmits@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Shaq Quarterman battles for job on Jaguars team loaded with LBs
