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Jaelen Strong wants to move on from lack of success with Texans

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Receiver Jaelen Strong has no idea why things didn’t work out for him in Houston, but he really doesn’t care at this point.

He’s just thinking about how he can help the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“I'm here in Jacksonville now, under a new organization and team, and this is my main focus,” Strong said. “"Like I said, I'm not really sure why they let me go. I'm not really worried about why they let me go or anything that happened. I'm just trying to do whatever I can to help the Jacksonville Jaguars be the best team.”

Strong was suspended for the first game of the season because of an offseason marijuana arrest and didn’t catch a pass in Week 2 before the Texans waived him on Monday. The Jaguars claimed him on Tuesday, but he suffered a hamstring injury in his first practice and his status for Sunday’s game against Baltimore in London is in doubt.

He did not practice Wednesday and the injury may keep him from making the trip, which is ironic because Strong said his family was “tearing my house apart” in Houston to try and find his passport.

It has been a whirlwind four days for Strong. Things will settle down eventually, but what won’t is his annoyance of getting released.

“Any time anybody gets released, of course some reality sets in and some hunger sets in," Strong said.

Strong caught 28 passes for 292 yards and three touchdowns in two seasons with the Texans, who drafted him in the third round in 2015. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Strong never quite found his footing as the No. 2 target behind DeAndre Hopkins. The Texans drafted Will Fuller in the first round and Braxton Miller in the third in 2016, which apparently made Strong expendable.

As for where he fits into the Jaguars’ offense, that’s something that will be determined over the next few weeks, coach Doug Marrone said.

“I’m going to watch to see him live first, watch him in practice and see how quickly we can get him involved, how quickly he can learn what the packages are and see where he’s at,” he said.