Latest / The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network / Jags A.M. Podcast Ep. 244 | Previewing Browns vs. Jaguars, Predicting Headlines

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Jags A.M. Podcast Ep. 244 | Previewing Browns vs. Jaguars, Predicting Headlines · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Good morning and welcome inside the Hyundai Studios at the
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Miller Electric Center. Time for Jags AM on a Thursday.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: I'm Brian Sexton. John Osher is here. Mark Duffner will
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: be our third co-host on this show on Thursdays all
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: season long, and he'll join us shortly. But let's get
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: right to big things with John Osher, and we'll start
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: with the first.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: Which is unknowns.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: There's a lot of unknowns at the start of every
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: NFL season, but especially when you have a new head
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: coach and a defensive coordinator in the Cleveland Browns, Mike Rutenberg,
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: who's never been a defensive coordinator before. Liam Cohen understands
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: that it took some work, and so they've been working
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: on the Browns and investigating and finding out about this team.
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: Since way back in the spring. He talked a little
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: bit on Wednesday about dealing with the unknowns.
• 1:03
  Speaker 4: I don't have his tape from last season. of his defense, right?
• 1:08
  Speaker 4: I've got an idea. We've got some thoughts, we've got
• 1:10
  Speaker 4: some cutups and all that. But so in game one specifically,
• 1:14
  Speaker 4: I think you would just have to really be ready
• 1:16
  Speaker 4: to adjust. Um, you've got to, it sucks to kind
• 1:20
  Speaker 4: of carry volume, you know, cause you don't want to
• 1:23
  Speaker 4: have too much volume, but you also need to have
• 1:26
  Speaker 4: answers for, uh, maybe what they could throw at you. Um,
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: what kind of game it becomes. And, um, yeah, you're,
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: You're always a little bit, I don't want to say
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: at a disadvantage, because we're all very even in terms
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: of going into week one. We could have wrinkles, obviously,
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: that they're not aware of that we didn't put on
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: tape last year. But we're kind of going in a
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: little bit more blind than maybe they are.
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: John, it's hardly new.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: There are at least eight head coaches, it seems, every year.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: And so every team is dealing with it. What makes
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: it interesting is what Liam talked about is you don't
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: know how Todd Munkin, the new head coach, is going
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: to deal with the new personnel. His quarterback is Deshaun Watson.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: It's not Lamar Jackson. Same thing on the defensive side.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: You don't know what Mike Grutenberg is doing or how
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: he's going to adjust what he might have done with
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: the Jets with what he's going to do now with
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: the Browns personnel.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a couple of things I love about Liam
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: in press conferences and He lets you in a little
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: bit more than a lot of coaches, and he can't
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: help but sort of tell you where he's at because
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: he loves what he's doing so much. He really likes
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: figuring out what he thinks the other team's going to
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: do and then playing that chess game. He's a wonderful leader,
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: but to me his superpower is being able to figure
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: that out, getting in the film room, knowing what's going
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: to happen on Sunday.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: That makes this hard because... You.
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: Sort of know what Rutenberg does.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: You sort of know the Browns' personnel, but there's no blueprint. Now,
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: on the other side of that, Brian, don't think just
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: because Liam was here last year that he's shown the
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: Browns everything he's going to do. There's still a chess
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: match Sunday. I think Liam's good enough for the Jaguars
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: to win that, but absolutely it's a factor because he
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: talked about volume there, and what he means is taking
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: a lot of plays and a lot of answers.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: To the questions.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: You have to do more of that this week. And
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: he did say a legitimate concern, overloading guys with.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: Too much information.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: That's his balance this week is not so much information
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: that they can't play fast, but enough information to win
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: the game.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: You know, one of the things that he's been demanding
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: of his players this year, it's been a talking point
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: for a long time, is our second big thing, and
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: let's get physical. I walked around the locker room yesterday
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: asking guys, what does that mean? Every coach talks about
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: being the more physical team, winning the battle of physicality,
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: and yet not everyone can do it as well as
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: other teams do. So I thought it was interesting when
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: they were talking about the run defense yesterday and asking
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: about physicality. You know, are you ready to Josh Allen
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: to face a Todd Munkin team to be the more
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: physical team against the Munkin team? Because they know what
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: Munkin's offense did against this defense a couple of years
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: ago when they ran for more than 200 yards. Josh
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: Allen had a pretty strong response.
• 4:18
  Speaker 5: Our model is to stop the run. So by any means,
• 4:20
  Speaker 5: they're not running that ball that much on us. So.
• 4:26
  Speaker 5: I expect, you know, coming out and running the ball,
• 4:28
  Speaker 5: his philosophy of how he sees the game, yes, I
• 4:31
  Speaker 5: expect that. But, you know, 230 yards, that's not happening. So, respectfully.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: That was the mindset in the locker room, whether I
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: talked to Robert Hainsey, the Jags center, who talked about
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: it being a mentality and wanting to be more physical,
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: or whether we talked to Josh Allen, who just laid
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: it out.
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: They're not running on us. And, of course, you talk
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: to the head coach.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: He says, we will be the most physical team. For
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: as much as we talk about throwing the ball in
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: this league, it really does always come back to who
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: wins the battle at the line of scrimmage.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I thought it was the secret sauce is the
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: right word, but the thing that defined this team last year,
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: that I don't know if everybody observing it noticed, was
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: that it was the more physical team usually. When they
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: were the more physical team, when they punched in the mouth,
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: they usually won. That's definitely what they want to do
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: this year. They want to run better. They're going to
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: try it. They want to be that team. It's a
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: hard team to do it against. The Browns, if they
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: have a strength defensively, it's that front. It's their ability
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: to be physical. The Jaguars, it's their identity anyway. They
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: want to lean more into that identity. And I think
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: that's the matchup this week, Brian. Can they be more
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: physical than a Browns team that really probably isn't as
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: good as the Jaguars on paper and all that stuff?
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: But if they can be more physical, they got a shot.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: So that's where it's going to be won.
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: And finally, our third big thing is defend Deshaun.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: Deshaun Watson isn't the same quarterback he was when he
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: was with the Houston Texans. No one is stating that case.
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: And obviously, in the fall of 2024, he had the.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: Achilles injury that cost him all last season. But when
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: he was here a couple years ago, John, in 2024,
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: He ran for 20 yards and had 186 yards passing,
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: and they won 18-13 because he just made enough plays
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: here and there, running three yards for a first down
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: at a crucial moment in the ballgame, finding his tight
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: end on third down and six, again, at a crucial
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: moment in the locker room. He's a savvy veteran player,
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: and Josh Hines-Allen is a guy who knows him well,
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: having faced him in all of those years with the Texans.
• 6:32
  Speaker 5: He's a helping athlete, man. Stronger lower body. Breaks a
• 6:36
  Speaker 5: lot of tackles and he does a really great job
• 6:38
  Speaker 5: on extending the play. So we're gonna have to really,
• 6:41
  Speaker 5: if one person holding him up, let me be the
• 6:44
  Speaker 5: only one to hit him though. Don't want nobody jumping
• 6:46
  Speaker 5: on my tackles. But everybody else holding him up, we
• 6:49
  Speaker 5: all gotta populate to the ball.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: John, two years ago when the Browns came in here
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: in week two and surprised the Jaguars, they did it
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: because Deshaun Watson leaned on the running game in that defense.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: But he's just crafty enough to make enough plays, and
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: it only takes two or three to turn the outcome
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: of the game around.
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: Well, he's a heartbreaker.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, you will think you have him. You've played
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: good defense. You feel like the first two downs you've won,
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: and you're in third and four, and then he gets five.
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: and then that happens two or three times in a drive.
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: And all of a sudden the, uh, the Browns are
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: in the end zone and you don't really know why.
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: And you look back and so Deshaun.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: Only had, you know, 14 yards in this series, but
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: they were 14 first down yards. So it's kind of quarterback.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: He is, it's kind of quarterback. He can still be, um,
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: a couple of things. I believe that this is a
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: much better, more fundamentally sound defense that the Jaguars had
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: than they did in 24. And, uh, but he's going
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: to make plays. The Browns scored 18 points in that game.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: Scored more than 18 points. The Jaguars scored 13, and
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: it was a slog all day. That was a really
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: bad offensive game, if you remember. This Jaguars team needs
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: to score in the 20s. They're supposed to be a
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: really good offense. They should be able to get away
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: from the Browns and not have the few... Keep Watson's
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: big moment plays limited.
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: To below.
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: What you get offensively.
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: All right, there are your big things.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: Sunday's game, by the way, here against the Browns, a
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: 1 o'clock kickoff at Everbank Stadium, is presented by our
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: friends at Publix.
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: Publix, where shopping is a pleasure.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: And by the way, on Tuesday, September 15th, from 6
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: to 7 in the evening, head to the Publix at.
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: 12541 Yellow Bluff Road.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: You'll meet players of the Jaguars, as well as Jackson DeVille,
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: and members of the Roar for a special appearance. Publix,
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: where shopping is a pleasure. When we return to Jags AM,
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: we'll hear from the Cleveland side of things.
• 8:52
  Speaker 6: Welcome into behind enemy lines where we check in with
• 8:55
  Speaker 6: a media member from the opposing team for the jaguars
• 8:57
  Speaker 6: this week in week one they're taking on the cleveland
• 9:00
  Speaker 6: brown so we're taking checking in with ashley bastog cleveland.com
• 9:04
  Speaker 6: and the orange and brown talk podcast ashley i am
• 9:07
  Speaker 6: so excited to see regular season football i feel like
• 9:09
  Speaker 6: you guys are probably in the same boat at this
• 9:10
  Speaker 6: point Oh my gosh.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 9:13
  Speaker 7: Especially because this was our second straight off season with
• 9:16
  Speaker 7: a quarterback competition. So every rep is analyzed and overanalyzed
• 9:21
  Speaker 7: and we're ready for the real games up here in
• 9:23
  Speaker 7: Cleveland for sure.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 9:25
  Speaker 6: So update me a little bit on it. Obviously we've
• 9:27
  Speaker 6: heard that Deshaun Watson was named the starter a couple
• 9:29
  Speaker 6: of weeks ago. What is the sentiments with that and
• 9:33
  Speaker 6: kind of going into this new season with a new
• 9:35
  Speaker 6: head coach and everything and all the other changes?
• 9:38
  Speaker 7: Yeah, very interesting sentiment for sure. I'm not sure how
• 9:42
  Speaker 7: much this news made it down to Jacksonville in the
• 9:45
  Speaker 7: lead up, but in the final preseason game when Deshaun Watson,
• 9:50
  Speaker 7: or the second preseason game I believe it was, played
• 9:52
  Speaker 7: in the second half of their game against the Buffalo Bills,
• 9:57
  Speaker 7: he kind of railed against Cleveland fans. a little bit
• 10:00
  Speaker 7: after Shador Sanders started that game. He got booed in
• 10:05
  Speaker 7: the third quarter of that game, and he kind of
• 10:08
  Speaker 7: let some things go. And in 2024, which was the
• 10:11
  Speaker 7: last time he started for the Browns, he ruptured his
• 10:13
  Speaker 7: Achilles in a game against the Bengals at home. And
• 10:16
  Speaker 7: some fans cheered when he got injured. So that had
• 10:19
  Speaker 7: sort of been hanging over his head for the last
• 10:22
  Speaker 7: almost two years. But his sort of outburst in that
• 10:25
  Speaker 7: press conference, I think, had a lot of people, myself included,
• 10:28
  Speaker 7: wondering if he would be the starting quarterback when week
• 10:32
  Speaker 7: one came around in Jacksonville, just because it was such
• 10:36
  Speaker 7: a big deal. Even though he had been leading and
• 10:39
  Speaker 7: Todd Munkin came out a few days later, the Browns
• 10:41
  Speaker 7: new head coach who they hired in the winter and
• 10:44
  Speaker 7: did say he was going to stick with Deshaun, the veteran.
• 10:47
  Speaker 7: So I will say for Deshaun Watson's reputation, I think
• 10:50
  Speaker 7: nationally around the league, it does just seem like obviously
• 10:53
  Speaker 7: Shador Sanders has much more popularity right now. But the
• 10:56
  Speaker 7: one thing I will say about Deshaun is the teammates
• 10:59
  Speaker 7: in that Browns locker room have always really enjoyed playing
• 11:03
  Speaker 7: with him, it seems like. So I think it might
• 11:06
  Speaker 7: not be what folks on the outside are necessarily expecting.
• 11:09
  Speaker 7: But how he handles any kind of adversity, I think,
• 11:12
  Speaker 7: especially on the road, is going to be a huge
• 11:14
  Speaker 7: storyline for however long he's the starter.
• 11:17
  Speaker 6: Well, Jags fans are unfortunately very familiar with Deshaun Watson.
• 11:20
  Speaker 6: I think he's 7-0, something like that, other than a
• 11:23
  Speaker 6: late rookie season playing some later in the game. But
• 11:25
  Speaker 6: he's pretty much undefeated against the Jaguars. What does the
• 11:28
  Speaker 6: offense look like now with Todd Monk in there? And obviously,
• 11:31
  Speaker 6: I know Quinshawn Judkins coming back from injury. So what
• 11:34
  Speaker 6: are you expecting to see in week one?
• 11:37
  Speaker 7: Yeah, I think the big thing for folks to know
• 11:39
  Speaker 7: is this Browns receiving core has just been revamped. They
• 11:42
  Speaker 7: used two of their top three draft picks to take
• 11:45
  Speaker 7: Casey Concepcion. out of Texas A & M, and Denzel
• 11:49
  Speaker 7: Boston out of Washington. So those are two different profile receivers.
• 11:54
  Speaker 7: Casey Concepcion, I know the Browns really valued his ability
• 11:57
  Speaker 7: as a separator. He can do a lot. He can
• 11:59
  Speaker 7: get involved in the run game. He makes the offense
• 12:01
  Speaker 7: a lot more versatile. I know the Browns believed he
• 12:03
  Speaker 7: was the best punt returner. in their draft class. So
• 12:06
  Speaker 7: I would definitely be on the lookout when you're watching
• 12:09
  Speaker 7: the Jacksonville defense for him and what they're going to
• 12:12
  Speaker 7: do going against him. And Denzel Boston is more of
• 12:15
  Speaker 7: that red zone threat, a more traditional style X receiver,
• 12:19
  Speaker 7: a bigger body. So That's definitely, I think, the biggest
• 12:22
  Speaker 7: thing to know on top of Quinshawn Judkins coming back.
• 12:25
  Speaker 7: He was in some of that Offensive Rookie of the
• 12:28
  Speaker 7: Year talk before he dislocated his ankle last season with
• 12:33
  Speaker 7: a couple of weeks to go.
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: So he's back.
• 12:35
  Speaker 7: He looks like he hasn't missed a step. And the
• 12:37
  Speaker 7: other big thing to know about this Browns offense under
• 12:40
  Speaker 7: Todd Munkin now is that they totally remade their offensive line.
• 12:42
  Speaker 7: Five new starters, so... It's going to be very different
• 12:46
  Speaker 7: than the last time Jacksonville saw them a couple years
• 12:49
  Speaker 7: ago they had that veteran group together for like four
• 12:51
  Speaker 7: or five seasons so they have a rookie left tackle
• 12:54
  Speaker 7: and Spencer Fano that's I think the big name to
• 12:56
  Speaker 7: know but five new starters definitely a tall order for
• 12:59
  Speaker 7: these guys as they get organized in week one.
• 13:02
  Speaker 6: Tons of changes, obviously defensively, Miles Garrett heads out of town.
• 13:06
  Speaker 6: Jared verse, uh, no slub by any means. He's very talented.
• 13:10
  Speaker 6: Will the defense be the Cleveland Browns defense? We feel
• 13:13
  Speaker 6: like we already have known for years or what is
• 13:15
  Speaker 6: it going to look like now?
• 13:16
  Speaker 7: Yeah, it's interesting because I think the answer is yes
• 13:19
  Speaker 7: and no, because it's undeniable looks different without Miles Garrett. But, uh,
• 13:24
  Speaker 7: when Mike Rutenberg, their new defensive coordinator, first time defensive
• 13:28
  Speaker 7: coordinator took over, uh, A big part of the reason
• 13:31
  Speaker 7: of why he took over is he comes from kind
• 13:33
  Speaker 7: of the same coaching tree that former coordinator Jim Schwartz
• 13:36
  Speaker 7: came from. So it still is going to be that
• 13:39
  Speaker 7: attack style front, which I think is what people have
• 13:42
  Speaker 7: grown used to seeing with the Browns D-line over the
• 13:45
  Speaker 7: prior three seasons when they led the league in a
• 13:48
  Speaker 7: number of statistical categories. I know tackles for loss, third
• 13:52
  Speaker 7: down conversions allowed, total first downs allowed, fourth down conversions.
• 13:55
  Speaker 7: So They've been really good with that attack-styled front. I
• 14:00
  Speaker 7: think changes are really going to come in the secondary.
• 14:03
  Speaker 7: I'd expect a lot more three safety looks. They drafted
• 14:06
  Speaker 7: Emmanuel McNeil-Warren. out of Toledo on the second day of
• 14:10
  Speaker 7: the draft. So I expect him to be very heavily involved.
• 14:13
  Speaker 7: But Mike Ruttenberg, his bread and butter is really in
• 14:16
  Speaker 7: that secondary. So I think that might be where you
• 14:19
  Speaker 7: see a little bit more disguising, less man coverage, as
• 14:23
  Speaker 7: opposed to the front, which I think is still very
• 14:25
  Speaker 7: much attack first along that D-line.
• 14:28
  Speaker 6: It's so hard to predict week one because, you know,
• 14:31
  Speaker 6: coming off the season, you get the crazy games in
• 14:34
  Speaker 6: week one. But is there a player to watch for
• 14:36
  Speaker 6: you guys, maybe an X factor that you feel like
• 14:38
  Speaker 6: if the Browns are going to be competitive and try
• 14:40
  Speaker 6: to win this game, you're going to have to have
• 14:41
  Speaker 6: a good performance out of?
• 14:44
  Speaker 7: Yeah, you know what? I'm going to go ahead and
• 14:46
  Speaker 7: I will say Quinshawn Judkins for that. Because I think
• 14:50
  Speaker 7: in a Todd Munkin offense, to go back to that point,
• 14:53
  Speaker 7: the run game is so, so, so important. And I
• 14:57
  Speaker 7: think the Browns over the last few years have really struggled.
• 15:00
  Speaker 7: to marry the run in the pass. And when you
• 15:02
  Speaker 7: don't have production in one facets of that, it becomes
• 15:05
  Speaker 7: much easier for opposing defenses to game plan for you.
• 15:09
  Speaker 7: And I think Quinshawn Judkins really being back to his
• 15:13
  Speaker 7: true form that he was at pre-injury as a rookie,
• 15:16
  Speaker 7: it's going to help a lot. And as the quarterback
• 15:18
  Speaker 7: situation sort of remains what it is here in Cleveland,
• 15:21
  Speaker 7: I think any help on the ground is going to
• 15:22
  Speaker 7: be greatly appreciated.
• 15:24
  Speaker 6: Awesome.
• 15:25
  Speaker 7: We're looking forward to it.
• 15:26
  Speaker 6: Ashley, we'll see you this week.
• 15:27
  Speaker 7: All right, thank you.
• 15:28
  Speaker 6: That was Behind Enemy Lines. Stay with us here on
• 15:30
  Speaker 6: Jags AM as we'll give you our predictions for week
• 15:33
  Speaker 6: one against the Browns.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: Well, Jags AM is brought to you by the Fields
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: Auto Group. See Fields first. They're Jacksonville's premier luxury auto group.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: Go to fieldsauto.com. And welcome back to Jags AM from
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: the Hyundai Studios in Jacksonville. I'm Brian Sexton, along with
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: John Ogier. And normally on this show, Mark Duffner will
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: be with us on a weekly basis. We have a
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: segment called If. The Jaguars will win If. And it's
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: going to be a football-intensive segment. Mark couldn't be with
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: us today, but he gave us what his ifs are.
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: And John, I'll have you feed off of them. The
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: first is the Jaguars will beat the Browns if they
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: win on first down. First down has been a huge
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: talking point. Yeah, it's everything.
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: I would say the entire offseason has been focused on it,
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: but a lot of it has. And Chris Rodriguez has
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: brought in here to have them in better situations on
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: first down on offense, meaning Instead of second and eight runs,
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: you want second and six runs. Puts you in better
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: situations down the road on second and third down.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: And on defense, same deal.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: If you hear Josh Ions-Allen talk about defense ever, it's
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: always we've got to earn the right to rush the
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: passer by stopping the run.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: Went on first down, you win the game.
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: Our second Jaguars will win if.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: Is the Jaguars a win? Because it's all about the QB.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: You have to affect the quarterback, which means you've got
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: to go get Deshaun Watson, and your quarterback has to
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: be protected.
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel– don't you feel good about Trevor Lawrence? Look,
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: I don't know the– this year's offense line is perfect.
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: It wasn't perfect last year. There were some games where.
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: It gave up pressure.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: But he's gotten really good at evading it. So you
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: feel like they're going to be able to function offensively–
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: against the Browns. Now, the Browns don't want that. The
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: Browns are a very good defensive front, so that's a
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: huge matchup. I feel like the Jaguars will be good
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: enough there to function offensively. Pass rush for the Jaguars
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: is a legitimate question in terms of it was good
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: at times last year, good on the edge, got to
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: be better on the interior.
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: How much have they improved there?
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: It is a big storyline, and I'm not going to
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: say that those two are huge Jaguars matchups or Jaguars edges.
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: To me, they're huge storylines on Sunday.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: Listen, an extension of that is the stickier coverage that
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: Tony Buscelli was talking about back in the summer. Just
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: a little bit better coverage allows more time for Josh Heinz-Allen,
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: who had 80 pass rushes or pass rush pressures last year,
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: which was tied for fourth in the NFL with Myles Garrett,
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: to get to the top of that pass rush and.
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: Get to the quarterback. Yeah, Josh and Trayvon would be
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: really helped there by defensive interior pressure is huge for ends.
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: And finally.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: The Jaguars will win if, on Sunday, if they can
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: do it again in terms of a turnover, a takeaway position. Now,
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: plus 31 takeaways last year.
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: They were plus 13 in.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: The takeaway-giveaway ratio. That's not likely to happen. That was
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: only the fourth time in franchise history that the Jaguars
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: accumulated more than 30 takeaways. But they've got to at
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: least be able to grab one or two a game.
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: That's always got to go in your favor if you
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: want to be that kind of contending team.
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I get a lot of questions about, well, The
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: turnovers are fall off because they always do. And 31
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: is a big number to get. But if you think
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: about last year, their success to me was not built
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: on all takeaways. They had, was it three every game
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: for the first four games?
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: Yeah, a huge number.
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: 14, I think, in the first four.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: And they were good later that year, but it wasn't
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: like they were this historically weird number good the rest
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: of the year, especially during their 10-game winning streak or
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: the eight-game winning streak. When they were really good at
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: the end of the year, They were getting turnovers, but
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: it wasn't crazy and saying, oh, we can never do
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: that again. So I think they'll be fine there. But sure,
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: it's key Sunday because you want to get a lead
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: and create turnovers. Anytime you do that, you're going to win.
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: All right, here are the ifs once again. Jags win
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: if they win on first down. Jags win if they
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: affect the quarterback. And Jags win if they create takeaways.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: at least to some degree, like they did last year.
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: Mark Duffner will have those for us every Thursday here
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: on Jags AM. Stay with us. When we come back, we'll.
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: Have our Monday.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: Headlines today, give you a preview of what we think
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: is going to happen on Sunday. That right after the break.
• 20:02
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• 20:04
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• 20:08
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• 20:12
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• 20:14
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• 20:19
  Speaker 1: slash Jacksonville. So here we go. Predictions for Sunday's game
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: via Monday headlines in our own little paper. John, what
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: you got?
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: I went with Off and running. And I think it's
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: going to be the theme. I think you're going to
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: feel like this team has gotten off to a good start. Again,
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: I think the first half are always weird in week one.
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: So this is, I consider the Jags a good team
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: going against a building team this week. Often during that
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: week one weirdness, you get a weird play in the
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: first half. You might get a turnover that you're not
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: expecting because they're throwing something at you that you didn't expect.
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: But I think they will run. I think by the
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: third quarter they will establish the run. And I think
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: you will feel like you'll have a sensation by the
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: end of the game that, oh, this team can run.
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: This team knows what it's doing. It had a little
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: dicey in the first half, but they took care of
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: it in the second half. 26-14-ish, sort of like last
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: year's Carolina game. I don't think they'll have the lead
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: they had against Carolina.
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: I think it will be more of.
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: A second half where the Jaguars sort of– establish what
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: they are, and figure out what the Browns are doing weird,
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: figure that out, and get the margin they want.
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: I went with win one versus Watson.
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: The Jaguars have never beaten Watson when he has started
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: a game against the Jaguars with the Texans or the
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: Cleveland Browns, but you see what he's got to deal with.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: There are five new starters on the offensive line. Actually,
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: the right guard was the starter at the end of
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: last season, but five new starters from opening day last year.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: He's got two rookie-wide receivers and a defense that's trying
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: to figure itself out without Miles Garrett there just to
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: wreck everything. Plus... This isn't those Jaguars teams that he
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: used to face. It's much better, much, much better. So
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: I think the Jaguars win it. I think it's a
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: little bit more comfortable. I see 28-14. I think the
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: Jaguars establish the run game. I think they get a
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: couple of takeaways early in this one. And I think
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: the Jaguars beat the Browns and go 1-0 on opening day.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: So I picked 26-14.
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: You picked 28-14.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: And yours is much more comfortable. Yeah, okay. I said
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: a little bit more comfortable. No, but you're right. A
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: feel and flow of game. I think we differ a
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: little bit there. John, thanks so much. Appreciate you. We'll
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: see you next Monday to preview, well, to review the
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: Browns game and then preview the Broncos game. We're getting started,
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: getting into the regular season routine, and we thank you
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: for joining us here on Jags AM. Have a great
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: day and enjoy the weekend, everyone. We'll see you Sunday.