The Jacksonville Jaguars were hopeful that defensive tackle Marcell Dareus would not need surgery to repair a core injury and that he could return to the field in relatively short order.
Those hopes fell on deaf ears however, as NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that Dareus underwent surgery on Thursday and will miss between 4-6 weeks as he recovers.
#Jaguars DT Marcell Dareus is having surgery today to repair a core muscle injury, sources say. He’s in Philly with expert Dr. William Meyers, who will perform the straightforward procedure that has a very high rate of full recovery, generally taking 4-6 weeks.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 24, 2019
Dareus has been a mainstay in Jacksonville since he was acquired from the Buffalo Bills at the 2017 NFL trade deadline, appearing in 30 games over that span and starting each of the last 21.
Over the first seven weeks of this season, Dareus has taken nearly 45% of Jacksonville’s defensive snaps, recording 13 tackles, one tackle for loss and 0.5 sacks. He has an overall Pro Football Focus grade of 62.7 on the year.
Dareus suffered the abdominal injury during a 27-17 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 7.
