The Jacksonville Jaguars will have to try to reverse their slide and hang on to the lead in the AFC South without safety Daniel Thomas.

The Jaguars put the former Auburn standout on injured reserve on Tuesday after Thomas broke his left forearm in Jacksonville’s 30-12 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

The injury takes one of the Jaguars’ top special-teams players off the field. In his fourth season since joining Jacksonville as a fifth-round draft choice, Thomas had been on the field for 14 defensive snaps and 243 special-teams plays in 15 games in 2023.

During his NFL career, Thomas has 411 defensive snaps and 902 special-teams plays in 56 regular-season games.

The Jaguars have lost their past four games to drop to 8-7 and into a tie for the division lead with the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts. Via tiebreakers, Jacksonville still holds the AFC South lead for the purpose of playoff seeding with two weeks remaining in the regular season.

The Jaguars host the Carolina Panthers on Sunday and visit the Tennessee Titans on Jan. 7 to close the regular season.

Before Auburn and the NFL, Thomas was a prep standout at Lee-Montgomery (now called Percy Julian).

Three other players from Alabama high schools and colleges left NFL active rosters or practice squads on Tuesday:

· The Arizona Cardinals released tight end John Samuel Schenker (Auburn) from their practice squad.

· The San Francisco 49ers released defensive tackle Taylor Stallworth (Murphy) from their practice squad.

· The Houston Texans placed Jimmie Ward (Davidson) on injured reserve because of a quadriceps injury.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.