JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A short week is the last thing the short-handed Jacksonville Jaguars needed right now.
They already have placed more players on injured reserve (27) than any team in the league, and are so banged up at some positions that receiver Taylor Price and safeties Akwasi Owusu-Ansah and Darcel McBath -- all signed in the past 10 days -- could play significant roles Thursday night at Atlanta, when Jacksonville plays its third game in 11 days.
"I feel like I got hit by a truck," tight end Marcedes Lewis said Tuesday.
The team's roster looks like it did, too.
The Jaguars (4-9) are playing without six defensive linemen, their top three cornerbacks, a starting offensive lineman, a starting linebacker and several key backups.
Safety Dwight Lowery missed Sunday's game against Tampa Bay because of a shoulder injury, and his backup, rookie Chris Prosinski, broke his thumb and landed on IR.
The Jaguars have had so many season-ending injuries they had to reach injury settlements with five players just to maintain a practice squad. The NFL allows teams to have no more than 80 players under contract, including guys on the 53-man roster, the eight-man practice squad and injured reserve.
Receivers Mike Thomas (concussion) and Cecil Shorts (hamstring) are unlikely to play Thursday, and since the Jaguars waived starter Jason Hill and placed Brian Robiskie on IR, they are down to Jarett Dillard, special teams ace Kassim Osgood and relative newcomers Price and Chastin West.
"Whoever is down, somebody else is up," Lewis said. "We've got to keep rolling. Who's going to be in there is who's going to be in there."
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press