Dawuane Smoot: ‘I’m just about where I’d be’ if I had a training camp

Dawuane Smoot’s return to the field from an Achilles tear that ended his 2022 season hasn’t exactly been dynamic so far. The Jacksonville Jaguars outside linebacker has recorded four pressures in as many games with one sack.

According to Smoot, it’s largely because he’s only just getting back up to game speed.

“I’ve seen in the last two weeks, my get-off has gotten a lot better,” Smoot said Thursday. “My quickness is getting better, my pressures are getting better. It’s week to week.

“I would definitely say it was hard getting back and coming into it without [training] camp, without practice, and just thrown out there, it was a little tough. I’m now, what, four weeks in? That’s like the end of camp. I’m just about where I’d be at the beginning of the season.”

Smoot, 28, suffered his season-ending injury on Dec. 22 last year, but spent training camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list and began the season on injured reserve. In October, Smoot finally made his return to the practice field and made his 2023 debut on Oct. 15 against the Indianapolis Colts.

If the veteran pass rusher has another gear to hit in the last couple months of the season, it would be welcomed by the Jaguars defense. Only four teams have fewer sacks than Jacksonville and Josh Allen accounts for half of the team’s 18 through the first 10 weeks of the season.