The Jacksonville Jaguars have placed wide receiver Christian Kirk on the injured reserve list after suffering a core injury in last Monday night's loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Kirk will be out for a minimum of four weeks according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

Kirk was injured after quarterback Trevor Lawrence connected with him on the very first play from scrimmage that went for 26 yards. On his X (formerly known as Twitter), Kirk posted a “thank you” message to the fanbase of the Jaguars and promised to be back “better than ever.”

“Appreciate all the love and prayers from everyone. Duval, I love y’all and I’ll be back better than ever in no time 🤞🏽 Go Jags!” Kirk said.

Kirk was in the midst of a solid season where he caught 57 passes for 787 yards and three touchdowns before injuring his core muscle. Lawrence would show his support to his teammate on the aforementioned social media platform after he also got injured later in the game which would lead to the loss.

“Let’s go 1-3 🙌🏻 Come back will be real,” Lawrence wrote.

The true timeline for Kirk 

Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Christian Kirk in front of TIAA Bank Field.

While Schefter put in his original post that the minimum he will be able to miss his four weeks like a usual trip on the injured reserve list, it was reported by the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport that it'll be longer. He said that the surgery should make him miss six to eight weeks, which if the Jaguars make it, should be in time for the AFC Championship game at the earliest.

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Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson confirmed last Tuesday that surgery will most likely be the plan of action for Kirk in recovering from the core muscle injury. The way his response is worded, there's no doubt that Pederson wants the best for his receiver so he can come back 100 percent.

“I believe so,” Pederson said. “We’re going to send the images off and get another look at it, make sure that we have the right diagnosis and the right plan of attack for Christian moving forward.”

While Jacksonville still has the likes of play-makers such as Calvin Ridley, Evan Engram, and Travis Etienne Jr., Kirk still had a noticeable chemistry with Lawrence that will be missed. In the meantime, the Jaguars are 8-4 as their next game will be against the Cleveland Browns.