The Jacksonville Jaguars will probably be without newly signed left tackle Kelvin Beachum in their preseason opener against the New York Jets, according to head coach Gus Bradley.

When asked if Beachum will be unable to play on Thursday night, Gus Bradley said it's "unlikely" but that Beachum hasn't officially been ruled out yet.

"As coaches here is how we look at it: yeah, you would like to get [Kelvin Beachum] him out on the field more and see that, but it also gives us a chance to see [Josh] Wells at left tackle, Luke Joeckel at left tackle," Bradley said on Sunday. "So we do not want to miss things and through it all we’ll see how it shakes out, but we want to make sure to take this time to build depth, too."

Beachum missing the first preseason game isn't much of a concern. Last year, the starters played just the first 12 minutes of the first quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers and they left immediately after Blake Bortles had that diving touchdown in the corner of the end zone. Gus Bradley has long said preseason reps are a "kind of feel" and that the first-team unit gets reps until he feels they've accomplished something -- a long drive with multiple first downs, a touchdown, and more.

What will be interesting, however, is to see how Luke Joeckel performs at guard and how Beachum's backup -- who is presumably Josh Wells and not Joeckel -- will do.

"[Wells] is really showing up doing some good things at left tackle, so now the challenge for him is the consistency. But you are seeing really good flashes of him," Bradley said. "I think he’s becoming more confident because his strength has caught up to him."