AP

Jaguars defensive end Dante Fowler knows this is a big season for him, and he’s going to have to be at his best to keep a job and earn another one.

The question now becomes when he’ll be healthy enough to try.

According to Hays Carlyon of 1010XL, Fowler is still recovering from what the Jaguars are terming an upper body injury and has “lost sizable muscle mass in his upper body.”

When Jaguars coach Doug Marrone, who wasn’t going to elaborate on the injury, was asked whether Fowler was going to be ready for training camp, he replied: “We will just see.”

Despite the fact he had eight sacks last season and two more in the AFC Championship Game, the Jaguars declined to pick up the fifth-year option on his rookie deal. That makes this a contract year for the former No. 3 overall pick, who lost a starting job to emerging star Yannick Ngakoue.

And if he’s not 100 percent going into camp, it’s going to make it harder for Fowler to put up the kind of film he hopes to, to maximize his earning potential.