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Jaguars hoping to get more out of WR Marqise Lee as he gets healthier

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Injuries kept Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Marqise Lee from making much of an impact in his first two seasons.

Now he's playing his best football despite not being 100 percent healthy.

Lee has been dealing with rib and knee issues over the past three games but has been the Jaguars' best receiver. That has coach Doug Marrone expecting even bigger things from Lee once he does finally get healthy.

"I think he's been playing well and I think that once we can get him more practice time during the week, which we haven't been able to do due to limitations from injury, I think we can get more out of him," Marrone said. "I really do. That's what I'm excited about.

"Everything looks better for this upcoming week. We'll see how that goes when he gets back, but I think we can get more out of him and I'm looking forward to it."

Lee caught 15 passes for 208 yards in the Jaguars' first five games and hurt his ribs in game No. 5 against Pittsburgh. Since that injury Lee has 17 receptions for 230 yards and a touchdown in three games. He played through the rib injury and caught five passes for 83 yards against the Los Angeles Rams.

He suffered a knee injury late in that game and missed two days of practice before being a limited participant in Friday's walkthrough ahead of the Indianapolis game the following week. He caught four passes for 72 yards against the Colts.

The Jaguars had the week off after the Indianapolis game and Lee was held out of practice last week on Wednesday and Thursday. He still caught a season-high eight passes and his first touchdown of the season in the Jaguars' victory over Cincinnati last Sunday.

The knee injury that has bothered Lee the past three weeks did not hamper his ability to get open against the Bengals. The Jaguars used him effectively on crossing patterns and he had a pair of 19-yard catches on his way to 75 yards. He also showed no problem cutting and trying to slip tackles, so it appears he's close to being fully healthy again.

Getting more from Lee doesn't necessarily mean more targets. Rookie Dede Westbrook may finally be promoted from IR/designated to return to the active roster for this week's game against the Los Angeles Chargers and the Jaguars can use Westbrook in the slot on some of those crossing patterns. That may mean more work for Lee on the outside and downfield.