88 Austin Seferian-Jenkins TE

Seferian-Jenkins agreed Wednesday with the Patriots on a one-year contract, Field Yates of ESPN reports.

The 26-year-old tight end played through two hernia tears during his lone campaign in Jacksonville, catching 11 passes for 90 yards and a touchdown in five games before undergoing season-ending surgery Oct. 9. While he has yet to display consistency to go with his impressive combination of size and athleticism, Seferian-Jenkins has a nice opportunity ahead of him in New England, where there's a Gronk-size hole in the starting lineup. Granted, the Patriots signed Matt LaCosse in mid-March and will likely select at least one tight end during the 2019 NFL Draft. Presumably healthy for the start of the team's offseason program, Seferian-Jenkins will need to battle for a spot on the 53-man roster, not to mention regular snaps. There is some potential for regular fantasy contributions if he wins the starting job.

Seferian-Jenkins suffered two hernia tears during the first week of training camp in 2018, Daniel Popper of The Athletic reports.

Signed to a two-year, $10.5 million contract last offseason, Seferian-Jenkins fought through the injuries for five games before landing on injured reserve in early October. The Jaguars already announced that the 26-year-old tight end won't be brought back for the second season of his contract, though the move hasn't quite been made official. Given the role injuries played in his disappointing 2018 campaign, Seferian-Jenkins may find another opportunity to compete for a starting job. He should be healthy before the start of the offseason program, if he isn't already.

The Jaguars announced Monday that they won't exercise Seferian-Jenkins' contract option for 2019, Adam Caplan of SiriusXM Radio reports.

Seferian-Jenkins logged 11 receptions for 90 yards and one touchdown across five games with the Jaguars in 2018, before his season was cut short due to a core-muscle injury. Jacksonville signed the tight end after his career year in 2017 with the Jets -- a campaign in which he recorded 50 catches for 357 yards and three touchdowns -- but now will elect to part ways with the 26-year-old after a single season. Seferian-Jenkins is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent March 13, the start of the league year.

Though Seferian-Jenkins, whose 2018 season was cut short due to a core-muscle injury, tweeted a message that suggested his time with the Jaguars was over, Tad Dickman, the team's director of public relations, said a decision on that front has not yet been made, NFL.com's Nick Shook reports.

With that in mind, the Jaguars have until Feb. 19 to make a call on Seferian-Jenkins' 2019 contract option. In five games with the team before being placed on IR in October, the tight end caught 11 passes for 90 yards and a TD. The 26-year-old joined Jacksonville as a free agent after logging 50 catches for 357 yards and three TDs in 13 games for the Jets in 2017.

Seferian-Jenkins underwent surgery Tuesday to address the core-muscle injury that resulted in his placement on injured reserve, Daniel Popper of The Athletic reports.

Seferian-Jenkins will thus be stuck on injured reserve for at least the next eight weeks, but the procedure won't spell an end to his season. The 26-year-old is believed to be facing an approximate recovery time of around six weeks. If his rehab goes according to plan, he'll likely be ready to return from IR when immediately eligible Dec. 16 against Washington, assuming Jacksonville wants to use one of its two designated-to-return spots on the tight end. In the meantime, James O'Shaughnessy and Niles Paul are likely to vie for additional snaps at the position.