Jaguars receiver Dede Westbrook can’t wait to play.

And the Jaguars can’t wait to see how Westbrook can help their laboring passing game.

Life without Allen Robinson (torn ACL in Week 1) has been a struggle for the Jaguars, who rank 30th in the NFL (179-yard average) in passing entering Sunday’s game at Pittsburgh.

Westbrook underwent core muscle surgery Sept. 12 in Philadelphia. He posted a video of himself Wednesday running on a treadmill.

“I’m progressing really well, actually,” Westbrook told the Times-Union. “It’s a lot faster than I thought I would be considering I just got out of surgery [three] weeks ago. I’m taking it seriously and working to get out there.”

If the Jaguars use the “designated to return” option for Westbrook, he can return from injured reserve to play this year. He is eligible to practice Oct. 20 (six weeks after his IR date) and can play eight weeks after his IR date (Nov. 3), which would mean the Nov. 5 Cincinnati game.

Westbrook said Week 9 against the Bengals is the target date.

Without Robinson, the Jaguars have been unable to threaten teams downfield. Their 11.1-yard per catch average is 18th in the league and their six catches of at least 20 yards are tied for 29th.

Westbrook led the league with 288 receiving yards in the preseason, including six-catch games against Tampa Bay (131 yards) and Atlanta (115 yards). Granted, Westbrook was working against players who now occupy practice squads or the unsigned free agent list, but production is production. A player like Westbrook should shine against back-ups.

Westbrook came up sore during warm-ups for the Carolina game on Aug. 24 and did not practice leading into the Falcons game. But he played and he appeared ready to go until he was limited in practice Sept. 6-7 and was placed on injured reserve Sept. 8, two days before the opener at Houston.

“I had a couple of splash plays [against Atlanta], but I was still feeling the pain as I was going through that game,” Westbrook said. “There was no possible way I was going to make it through a 16-game season feeling the way I was. I had a few big plays against Atlanta, they could have turned into easy touchdowns, but the injury was hindering me.

“It was good that I got it taken care of.”

(The cynical aside: Did the Jaguars err in having Westbrook play the preseason finale? The surgery likely would have been required as soon as he played in any game.)

Westbrook has attended all of the receiver and offensive meetings during his stay on injured reserve.

“I pretty much go through the playbook and the game plan as if I’m playing that week,” he said. “I’m in every meeting making sure I’m not missing anything so when I do come back, it will be a [quick] transition.”

Said offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett: “That’s very important. Not only is he a young, rookie player but he’s in a very different system than he was in college [at Oklahoma]. The more we keep him around and the more we involve him, it’s going to be huge because you always want them to come back in condition and ready to rock.”

The absence of Westbrook was amplified when Robinson was injured.

The semi-criticism on Westbrook during training camp were his struggles against press coverage. But that should not be a reason to hold him back when healthy. If that remains an issue, the Jaguars should put Westbrook in motion and/or line him up in a stack formation to avoid pressing cornerbacks.

Well ahead of Westbrook’s return, the Jaguars must take more shots – and complete some of them – downfield to make defenses play them more honestly.

In four games this year …

Passes that traveled 11-15 yards in the air: Blake Bortles is 11 of 24 for 164 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions and a 68.8 rating.

Passes that traveled 16 or more yards in the air: Bortles is 6 of 16 for 138 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 108.8 rating.

(Not included are five passes that traveled at least 16 yards downfield that fell incomplete but resulted in a first down through an opponent’s penalty.)

Last week against the Jets, Bortles was 2 of 12 on attempts that traveled 11 or more yards, including incompletions that traveled 21, 19, 17 and 17 yards.

“If you throw the ball down to [the tailbacks], that’s OK but you continually go after those shots down the field,” Hackett said. “We did last week and some of them weren’t there.”

Maybe they will be there once Westbrook returns and gets back up to speed.