Jaguars release WR Lee Evans

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars released veteran wide receiver Lee Evans on Sunday and signed sixth-year receiver Demetrius Williams

The team also placed third-year wide receiver Taylor Price on injured reserve with a foot injury and signed guard/center Josh Beekman.

Evans signed as a free agent with the Jaguars in April after he was released a month earlier by Baltimore.

Evans could have helped the Ravens earn a trip to the Super Bowl but dropped a pass in the end zone in the final minute of January's AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots. The Patriots won 23-20.

Evans played seven seasons with the Buffalo Bills before joining the Ravens in 2011.

In his eight-year career, he has 381 receptions for 6,008 yards and 43 touchdowns.

Evans' two best seasons came in 2006 and '08. He had career highs in 2006 when he caught 82 passes for 1,292 yards. Two years later, he topped the 1,000-yard mark again with 63 receptions for 1,017 yards. He has 14 career 100-yard receiving games, eight multi-TD games and 57 receptions of 25-plus yards.

Evans and Laurent Robinson were signed as free agents during the offseason in hopes of bolstering a Jaguars wide receivers corps led by Mike Thomas' 44 catches in 2011.

While Robinson has become the team's No. 1 receiver, Evans has seen limited action in training camp and was running behind several of the Jaguars' younger receivers.

Evans did not play in Friday's preseason game against the New York Giants.

The 6-foot-2 Williams has played in 46 games with four starts since entering the NFL as a fourth-round pick of the Ravens in 2006. He spent four seasons with the Ravens (2006-09) and caught 63 passes for 1,008 yards and four touchdowns.

Two of his four career touchdown receptions are from 70-plus yards, with a 77-yard score in 2006 and 70-yard catch in '08.

Price has played in six career games, with five receptions for 80 yards. He was drafted in the third round by New England in 2010.

The Jaguars claimed him off waivers on Dec. 6, 2011, and he played in two games for Jacksonville late in the season.

Price suffered a foot injury that limited him during spring drills. He played in the Giants game Friday but did not have a reception.

Beekman entered the NFL as a fourth-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears in 2007.

Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press

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