Jacksonville's Offensive Line Isn't Hobbled. It's Hollowed Out.

Three days ago I wrote about the roster gaps the win streak kept hidden. The offensive line was already in the piece — Cole Van Lanen out, Garrett DiGiorgio out, depth thin enough that a single additional injury would move this from a concern to a crisis. Then Patrick Mekari went in for back surgery, and we're no longer talking about a concern.

Back surgeries are not ankle sprains. They carry timelines measured in months, not weeks, and they have a way of redefining a player's availability in ways that press releases rarely capture upfront. The injury report currently lists Mekari as active, but the surgery itself is the operative fact here — and it lands on a line that was already operating with meaningful pieces missing before camp got serious. Van Lanen remains out. DiGiorgio remains out. The depth chart at OL shows Robert Hainsey at the top of the interior rotation, with the players behind him carrying no meaningful production from last season. That is not a rotation built to absorb three simultaneous absences.

Here is why this matters beyond the injury itself: Trevor Lawrence threw for 4,214 yards and 32 touchdowns last season behind a line that, when healthy, was among the better units in the conference. The running game worked because Travis Etienne had lanes — 1,174 yards doesn't happen in a phone booth. Bhayshul Tuten added another 358 yards as a complementary piece. That entire backfield economy depends on the offensive line creating the conditions for it. Degrade the line enough and you don't just lose yards; you change what the offense is allowed to attempt.

The front office spent the offseason investing in continuity around Lawrence — Strange locked in on a three-year extension, Hunter cleared and healthy, Chris Rodriguez added to reinforce the backfield. Those are real commitments. But continuity at the skill positions is only as valuable as the protection those players receive. You can extend your tight end and draft a receiver and still have a broken offense if the quarterback is running for his life by Week 4.

My read is that the Pythagorean gap I've been writing about since August 11 — Jacksonville's win rate outpacing what their point differential actually supported by more than seven percentage points — was always pointing toward a fragility the record obscured. That gap doesn't exist in a vacuum. It reflects a team that won close games at an unsustainable rate, that finished strong when everything held together. The offensive line was part of what held together. Right now, heading into 2026, it isn't holding together. Mekari's surgery is the third domino, and the question Jacksonville needs to answer before the season starts is whether there are any more left to fall.