Jacksonville Jaguars' Leonard Fournette inactive against New England Patriots

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette (27) runs for short yardage against the New England Patriots in the first quarter of the AFC Championship Game on January 21, 2018 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Photo by Matthew Healey/UPI

By Jeff Elliott, The Sports Xchange

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette did not play in Sunday's showdown with the New England Patriots. He was one of the seven inactive players listed by the Jaguars 90 minutes before their kickoff with the Patriots.

Fournette suffered a hamstring injury last Sunday in the second quarter of the Jaguars' win over the New York Giants. Even though Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone said team doctors called it a "minor hamstring injury," Fournette did not practice the entire week with the Jaguars.

On Friday, Marrone said he was still optimistic that Fournette could play on Sunday. He also said he was comfortable with having just two active running backs for Sunday's game. But on Saturday, the Jaguars brought up running back Brandon Wilds from the practice squad to the active roster.

Wilds was originally signed by the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted rookie in May 2016. He then spent time with the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns before he was signed to the Jaguars' practice squad last October. His career totals are 10 rushing attempts for 27 yards in four games with the Jets.

Wilds is a bigger back, similar in size to Fournette. Wilds is listed at 6-foot, 220 pounds. He will back up T.J. Yeldon -- who will start at running back -- and reserve Corey Grant.

Fournette led the Jaguars in rushing in his rookie season a year ago with 1,040 yards in 268 attempts and nine touchdowns in 13 games. He missed three games last year due to an ankle injury and one game with a quadriceps injury.

In addition to Fournette, starting linebacker Leon Jacobs was also declared inactive. Jacobs is healthy, but the Jaguars will play a nickel defense most of the game against Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, which means Jacobs would be on the sidelines.