JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars have not been able to count on much offensively over the past month, but tight end Evan Engram has been one of the few exceptions.
With receiver Christian Kirk on injured reserve with a core muscle injury, receiver Zay Jones battling knee and hamstring injuries and a running game that's averaging a league-worst 60.3 yards per game, Engram has become the focal point of the offense. And that has him on the verge of owning a piece of NFL and franchise history: Engram needs just two more catches to become the eighth tight end to have 100 receptions in the Super Bowl era -- and just the second player in Jaguars history to surpass that mark.
That will mean a whole lot more to Engram if the Jaguars (8-7) snap a four-game losing streak on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers (1 p.m. ET, CBS) and then hold on to win the AFC South in Week 18 against the Tennessee Titans.
"It'll be nice with a division title," Engram said. "Just trying to be the best I can for the team, whatever that equals. So just keep doing that and try and just make a positive impact on my team.
"That's all I really care about."
Engram set single-season franchise tight end records with 73 catches and 766 yards in 2022 in his first season with Jacksonville. The Jaguars used the franchise tag on Engram in the offseason and eventually signed him to a contract extension just before training camp began, but hitting those numbers again seemed unlikely with the addition of receiver Calvin Ridley.
Yet, Engram rolled past 73 catches on Dec. 4 when he caught nine passes for 82 yards and a touchdown in an overtime loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. That was the point when he became arguably the team's most important offensive player because Kirk suffered his core muscle injury on the Jaguars' first offensive snap of that game.
From that moment on, Jaguars quarterbacks Trevor Lawrence and C.J. Beathard have targeted Engram 42 times. Ridley has been targeted once more for 43 times in that span. So it's clear that with Kirk out and Jones limited, Engram and Ridley are the players Lawrence (and Beathard) seem to trust the most.
"I know [Lawrence] trusts [Engram] a lot," offensive coordinator Press Taylor said. "He's proven that over two years' time of them working together that he's going to be where he is supposed to be. He's going to catch it when he needs to. We all have a lot of confidence in Evan."
Engram has caught 34 of those 42 targets (81%) for 300 yards and three touchdowns to bring his season totals to 98 catches, 824 yards and three touchdowns. The 98 total catches is the most among tight ends in the league this season, and his 824 yards is fourth-most at the position. All but seven of those catches have come on Lawrence passes.
"We [he and Lawrence] both take a lot of pride in our craft and we're both really big competitors," said Engram, who would join receiver Jimmy Smith as the only players in franchise history to surpass 100 catches in a season. "We're always going to find things to get better at and improve. He's had a positive impact on my career and I came here with a goal in mind to have a positive impact on his, too."
Engram may not be making a big deal of eclipsing 100 catches, but he probably should. The only other tight ends to do it are some of the most accomplished to ever play the position: Travis Kelce (three times), Zach Ertz (who has the single-season record with 116 catches), Jason Witten, Mark Andrews, Darren Waller, Tony Gonzalez and Dallas Clark. Gonzalez has the most career catches by an NFL tight end (1,325) and is already in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Witten has the second-most catches (1,228) and Kelce is fourth on the all-time list (904).
"I think it's awesome to have 100 catches or 1,000 yards, and he deserves it," Jones said. "Evan's one of the first people in the building every single morning, safely around 5:45 or 6 [a.m.] because I follow him at maybe 6:15, 6:30 and Evan's already into his routine -- so it just says a lot about how he prepares."
Engram will need to continue to be a big part of the Jaguars' offense in the last two games against a Panthers team whose defense gives up the fourth-least passing yards per game (175.9) and the Titans, who rank second in red zone defense (38.2%). And he might need to do that with Beathard at quarterback, as Lawrence is dealing with a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder.
There's no better time than now for Engram to cross 100 receptions.
"This team's had a great impact on me and moving forward I'm trying to do the same," Engram said.