Paul Posluszny Injury: Updates on Jaguars Star's Pec and Recovery

Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Paul Posluszny will miss the rest of the 2014 NFL season after suffering a torn pectoral in Sunday's 24-6 win over the Cleveland Browns.   

Head coach Gus Bradley announced the news Monday afternoon:

Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com added more details:

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"I knew something was wrong [when it happened] but not that wrong, you know what I mean?" Posluszny said Monday afternoon. "You know how it is. We’re winning, we’re up, you want to finish the game."

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It’s not easy, especially [because] you get the feeling now that we’re just starting to pick things up and the team’s going to roll a little bit and get on a nice winning streak and play some good ball, so you want to be a part of that," he said. "It’s tough to get hurt now and know that I’m not going to play football for a long time."

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Defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks added more, according to DiRocco:

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"That’ll be huge, losing Poz," defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks said. "Poz is the guy that jells our defense together. He’s the leader of our unit, so losing him will be huge. But Poz, he’s a leader. He’ll step in. Any question a guys has to ask, Poz will be there to answer the question and help the guys through the game plan. It’ll be big for him to be in there in the meeting room helping the guys."

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Posluszny, 30, had 12 tackles and a sack in Jacksonville's first win of the season but left EverBank Field with his arm in a sling. He underwent an MRI on Monday to determine the extent of his injury, revealing the torn pectoral.

In his fourth season in Jacksonville, Posluszny was on pace to approach career highs across the board. Instead, he'll finish with 69 total tackles in seven games played, his worst totals since his rookie year in Buffalo. The former Penn State star missed only one game his first three seasons with the Jaguars after signing a six-year, $45 million deal in 2011.

Bradley said J.T. Thomas will take over for Posluszny at middle linebacker, per the team's Twitter. Thomas has five career tackles, all picked up while a member of the Chicago Bears in 2012. Posluszny's injury may create a bit of uncertainty about his future, as the aging middle linebacker has a base salary of $7.45 million in 2015, per Spotrac.  

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