The Jaguars today placed RB James Stewart on injured reserve due to a significant partial tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. In addition, the team has signed RBs Chris Howard and George Jones. Howard, 5-10, 223 pounds, was drafted in the fifth round of the 1998 draft by Denver. He was waived by the Broncos yesterday after being on their practice squad for four weeks. Jones, 5-9, 204 pounds, played in 16 games last season with the Pittsburgh Steelers before being waived on August 25.
Howard, 23, rushed for 93 yards on 28 carries and caught three passes for 23 yards in the preseason. He also returned two kickoffs for 46 yards. In four years at the University of Michigan, Howard rushed for 1,876 yards on 418 carries and scored 17 touchdowns. As a senior, he was an All-Big Ten Conference honorable mention performer with 199 carries for 938 yards and 7 touchdowns, as well as 37 catches for 276 yards and one touchdown. A native of River Ridge, La., he earned Louisiana State Most Valuable Player honors as a senior at John Curtis High School, running for 1,398 yards in ten games.
Jones, 24, was the team's third-leading rusher last season as a fifth round draft pick of the Steelers. He ran for 235 yards on 72 carries with one touchdown and also had 16 receptions for 96 yards and one touchdown. Jones played in all 16 games, starting against Tennessee in the season finale, but was inactive for the two post-season games. In two seasons at San Diego State, Jones finished third on the school's all-time list with 486 rushing attempts, fifth with 2,304 rushing yards and fourth with 206 points. After his junior year he was named WAC Offensive Player of the Year. He played two seasons at Bakersfield Junior College, where he broke O.J. Simpson's national JUCO record by scoring six touchdowns in one game. Jones is a native of Greenville, S.C., where he had back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons at Eastside High School.
Also today, the Jaguars re-signed DE Lamanzer Williams to the practice squad. He was selected by the Jaguars in the sixth round of this year's draft out of the University of Minnesota and was previously waived in the final cuts on August 30 and then signed to the team's practice squad the next day. Williams was activated to the roster last Saturday and waived on Tuesday. He played in all four preseason games, making two sacks and four tackles and saw his first NFL action in Sunday's victory over Baltimore.
