JACKSONVILLE – The initial 53 is set.

Put a big emphasis on "initial" and very little on "set." Because while General Manager James Gladstone likes the Jaguars' initial 53-player regular-season roster very much, there is nothing "final" about it.

"We're becoming the best version of the 2025 Jaguars at the right time," Gladstone said late Wednesday afternoon.

The Jaguars trimmed the roster to the NFL-mandated 53 players Tuesday at 4 p.m., with the current "53" representing the first season-opening roster under the team's new leadership regime of Gladstone, Head Coach Liam Coen and Executive Vice President of Football Operations Tony Boselli.

The Jaguars open the 2025 regular season against the Carolina Panthers September 7 at EverBank Stadium.

"We're really happy with the way that the 53-man roster currently stands," Gladstone said.

The Jaguars made one change to the 53-player roster Wednesday before Gladstone spoke to the media at 4:15, trading a sixth-round selection in the 2026 NFL Draft to the Detroit Lions for wide receiver Tim Patrick. The team waived wide receiver Austin Trammell in a corresponding move.

The 53-player roster as of Wednesday was dramatically different from the final roster from the 4-13 2024 season, featuring 24 players not with the organization in January. The Jaguars on Tuesday released or waived seven former draft selections, including four from the '24 draft class.

Gladstone called the turnover "an organic approach."

"It wasn't something that you intentionally set out on saying, 'Hey, we're going to turn over this percentage or this number of the roster,' " he said. "When we have high demands for players and expectations and standards, it can become easier to sift through who makes the most sense moving forward and who makes the most sense for being here.

"We're certainly excited about the group that we have in the moment, but I can't say that it was with any intent to get to a certain number of percentage roster turnover."

Seven 2025 Jaguars Draft Selections: wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter (Round 1), guard Wyatt Milum (Round 3), running back Bhayshul Tuten (Round 4), linebacker Jack Kiser (Round 4), safety Rayuan Lane III (Round 6), center Jonah Monheim (Round 7) and running back LeQuint Allen Jr. – made the initial 53.

Safety Caleb Ransaw (Round 3) was placed on season-ending injured reserve Tuesday, with linebacker Jalen McLeod (Round 6) placed on injured reserve designated to return. Two collegiate free agents, defensive ends B.J. Green II and Danny Striggow, also made the initial 53-player roster.

"We're extremely excited," Gladstone said. "Obviously with the rookie class it's always interesting early in the season to see how they're going to be involved on the grass. The fact that we have guys who are built with the right stuff, and they're feeling it out for the first time, they've made their dent.

"They're earned roles that will be meaningful to us over the course of the season. We're really excited about the future, explicitly with the rookie class. We have a good group that is ready to bring it to life on the grass and play together, play in tandem, and looking forward to seeing that here against Carolina."

Standing out to Gladstone: Mental and physical toughness, a focus throughout the offseason and training camp. He said, too, that while "good teams can be built throughout the course of an offseason, the great teams continue to evolve throughout the course of a season."

"We won't stop," he said. "Stagnation is never going to be something you see from us. I look forward to still what lies in front of us and know the job's not even close to done."

NOTABLE MOMENTS FROM JAGUARS GM PRESS CONFERENCE

• Because he was placed on injured reserve with no designation to return, Ransaw will miss the 2025 season. "It's unfortunate," Gladstone said, calling it a "non-contact injury" and adding that Ransaw wore a protective boot after the injury with the hope surgery could be averted. "He ended up having surgery, still had optimism that there was a chance towards the back half of the year that he would be able to return and do a designation for return," Gladstone said. "Unfortunately, it ended up it was going to be too close to the buzzer, so to speak. It would have been some version of trying to rush him back. Looking at the long game, it makes the most sense to make sure his recovery timeline isn't rushed, and we can go about it the right way for him. It's disappointing because he is somebody we certainly had a very vivid vision for and he was progressing at an extremely high rate."
• Hunter returned to practice Wednesday, Gladstone said. Hunter, the No. 2 overall selection in the 2025 NFL Draft, had missed the Jaguars' Week 2 preseason game against the New Orleans Saints with an upper-body injury before all Jaguars starters did not play in this past Saturday's preseason finale against the Miami Dolphins. "He's on the grass today and rolling full speed," Gladstone said of Hunter.