Latest / Jags A.M. / Jags A.M. Podcast Ep. 260 | Notes And Hot Takes After Jaguars Loss to Texans

Transcript

Jags A.M. Podcast Ep. 260 | Notes And Hot Takes After Jaguars Loss to Texans · Jags A.M.

0:16
Speaker 1: Welcome to Jags AM.
0:17
Speaker 2: I'm Kenani Stevens. Brian Sexton and John Ogier are with
0:19
Speaker 2: me today as the team has returned from London and
0:22
Speaker 2: they're getting ready for their bye week. Hopefully a restful one,
0:25
Speaker 2: but we still got some stuff to go over after.
0:27
Speaker 2: The loss to the Texans on Sunday. So we started
0:30
Speaker 2: with our big things brought to you by GEHA, Government
0:32
Speaker 2: Employees Health Association. And big thing number one is that
0:35
Speaker 2: London loss. They played two games across the pond in
0:38
Speaker 2: the UK. They got a dramatic win in the first
0:41
Speaker 2: matchup and a dramatic loss in the.
0:43
Speaker 1: Second matchup, Brian.
0:44
Speaker 2: So we got to experience the full set of emotions,
0:46
Speaker 2: highs and lows.
0:47
Speaker 1: What's kind of the recap for you after coming back
0:49
Speaker 1: from London?
0:50
Speaker 3: Well, I was traveling commercial and coming back yesterday from
0:53
Speaker 3: London with lots of fans.
0:54
Speaker 4: They all were still excited.
0:57
Speaker 3: Elated about the win and unhappy with the loss. But
1:01
Speaker 3: they enjoyed their trip. And I did too. So I
1:04
Speaker 3: guess my takeaway is that the Jaguars are 3-14 in
1:07
Speaker 3: their last 17 games against the Texans. Yay for beating
1:11
Speaker 3: the Eagles. That's fine. That's great. But you've got to
1:13
Speaker 3: find a way to beat the Texans. Had you been
1:15
Speaker 3: able to send them to 1-5, essentially their hopes of
1:18
Speaker 3: making the playoffs go so dramatically low. Now you've given
1:22
Speaker 3: them exactly what I thought might happen if they won.
1:25
Speaker 3: you've given them a boost. And they think at 2-4
1:28
Speaker 3: that they've got their place in December for the division title.
1:32
Speaker 3: So the Jaguars' lack of success, historically, not just this
1:36
Speaker 3: regime here that's 1-2 against them, but the lack of
1:39
Speaker 3: success against the Houston Texans is a problem. John, they've
1:43
Speaker 3: got to find a way to get past them. They
1:45
Speaker 3: nearly did. It wasn't like it was this epic used-to-play
1:48
Speaker 3: Peyton Manning and couldn't compete against those Colts teams 20
1:52
Speaker 3: years ago. but they've got to find a way to
1:54
Speaker 3: get past this Texans team.
1:55
Speaker 4: Yeah, and you've got two woulda couldas in a row
1:59
Speaker 4: where the Texans, I imagine, I'm not inside that organization,
2:03
Speaker 4: but I imagine they're talking about, yeah, we've got their number,
2:07
Speaker 4: we're in their head. I imagine that's their storyline. So
2:10
Speaker 4: you're right. They've got to get through that if they're
2:13
Speaker 4: going to, quote, own this division. So that's one storyline.
2:16
Speaker 4: But I think the other one is, look, There was
2:20
Speaker 4: some confidence and an interesting message from Liam Cohen both
2:24
Speaker 4: after the game and on Monday when he spoke to
2:28
Speaker 4: the media. It's a different vibe than coming back from
2:32
Speaker 4: the Rams' loss in London last year. There was a
2:35
Speaker 4: lot of resetting. Even Trevor Lawrence said, hey, we're not
2:37
Speaker 4: going to be soul-searching. That doesn't mean they're not going
2:41
Speaker 4: to go look for what they can improve. But there's
2:43
Speaker 4: still a confidence. I don't think anything that happened in
2:46
Speaker 4: London shook any confidence, Kai. It just sort of feels
2:50
Speaker 4: like they got through a weird London stretch with a
2:54
Speaker 4: lot of calls, the fans with the Eagles, a lot
2:57
Speaker 4: of stuff. It feels like they got through that, my
3:00
Speaker 4: hot take later on, and it's about this, but they
3:03
Speaker 4: got through it and they're in good shape, so I
3:04
Speaker 4: don't think there's panic.
3:06
Speaker 1: No panic button just yet.
3:07
Speaker 2: Let's talk about one of the positives from that matchup
3:10
Speaker 2: against the Texans. It was a breakout day. That's big
3:12
Speaker 2: thing number two for Travis Hunter, and Trevor Lawrence talked
3:15
Speaker 2: about what Travis Hunter was able to contribute on.
3:17
Speaker 1: Offense in that game.
3:19
Speaker 5: Travis played awesome, made some huge plays for us, gave
3:22
Speaker 5: us a spark. I mean, just made some unreal plays.
3:25
Speaker 5: So I thought it was cool to, you know, obviously
3:27
Speaker 5: get him involved. And he's special with the ball in
3:29
Speaker 5: his hands. And I think obviously today was probably the
3:33
Speaker 5: most work he's gotten offensively this season. So he did
3:36
Speaker 5: some great things. And, yeah, it kind of just happened
3:39
Speaker 5: that way. We always have a plan for him. And
3:40
Speaker 5: it seemed like we got pretty much all those called today,
3:43
Speaker 5: which was great. And he was making plays.
3:46
Speaker 2: John, you offensively did it defensively as well, had that
3:49
Speaker 2: big interception in the end zone, taking off C.J. Stroud
3:51
Speaker 2: for the first time this season. And overall, I imagine
3:55
Speaker 2: this plus more is what they expected when they drafted him.
3:58
Speaker 4: Yeah, he's a playmaker with the ball in the air,
4:05
Speaker 4: and he's a moment player. All fans are always going
4:11
Speaker 4: to talk about what they traded up to get him.
4:13
Speaker 4: Will it ever be worth it? All of that. I
4:16
Speaker 4: don't know if numbers, Brian, meaning season-ending numbers, I think
4:22
Speaker 4: you'll always be able to pick apart the pick because
4:25
Speaker 4: I don't know that season-ending numbers are going to be
4:27
Speaker 4: all pro, offense, any of that. But if you're looking
4:33
Speaker 4: for moments that matter, that shift and shape games, that's
4:38
Speaker 4: what they drafted him for in Sunday plus the Patriots interception.
4:43
Speaker 4: I think it was against the Patriots. He's a moment guy.
4:46
Speaker 4: I kind of wondered if he'd get the chances to
4:50
Speaker 4: make those moments matter. You're starting to see what he is, Brian.
4:54
Speaker 3: Trying to think the Jaguars have a roster of really
4:57
Speaker 3: good football players, but they don't have those elite differential makers.
5:02
Speaker 3: Like some teams do. I mean, you just look at
5:04
Speaker 3: the Texans. They've got their two defensive ends, and they've
5:07
Speaker 3: got Daryl Stingley. I mean, not Daryl Stingley. Derek Stingley, right?
5:14
Speaker 3: They've got some of those elite caliber players. Nico Collins, right?
5:19
Speaker 3: I don't think the Jaguars have that. I think the
5:20
Speaker 3: Jaguars have Trevor Lawrence, and I think they've got Travis Hunter.
5:25
Speaker 3: Those are the two guys who play at the elite level.
5:28
Speaker 3: Everyone else is really good. So you traded up to
5:31
Speaker 3: get an elite player. There's a problem with that?
5:34
Speaker 1: No.
5:34
Speaker 3: No problem with that at all. I don't care about it.
5:36
Speaker 3: I never will. I'm kind of like the coach in
5:38
Speaker 3: this one. I just want to see a guy go play.
5:40
Speaker 3: And he pulled you from down 10 to down 3
5:43
Speaker 3: with his touchdown in the end zone. And then on
5:45
Speaker 3: the very next drive, he gave you a chance to
5:47
Speaker 3: go tie the ball game. No matter what you give up,
5:50
Speaker 3: that's worth it to have a guy who in the
5:52
Speaker 3: fourth quarter doesn't make one play.
5:54
Speaker 4: He makes two.
5:55
Speaker 3: Who cares about what they gave up to get there?
5:57
Speaker 3: He makes a And I think you'll just see more
6:01
Speaker 3: of that. Will it be 10 touchdowns and five interceptions? No,
6:06
Speaker 3: probably not. But it probably could be six or seven
6:08
Speaker 3: touchdowns and three or four interceptions. And as you said, John,
6:11
Speaker 3: go to the moments where they occurred, like the fourth quarter,
6:14
Speaker 3: final five minutes when he does it twice. You're happy
6:17
Speaker 3: to have what you have.
6:19
Speaker 2: Go to our final big thing today, which is bye
6:21
Speaker 2: week changes. We talked about not pressing the panic button.
6:23
Speaker 2: I don't think anybody's doing that here in Jacksonville.
6:25
Speaker 1: They are four and two.
6:26
Speaker 2: If you told anybody that earlier in the season, they'd
6:28
Speaker 2: be four and two at the bye week.
6:30
Speaker 1: People would be happy.
6:31
Speaker 2: But now is a bit of a break in time
6:33
Speaker 2: where they have, you know, a week off and then
6:35
Speaker 2: they come back and reset before they take on the
6:37
Speaker 2: Indianapolis Colts at home. Brian, now would be time to
6:40
Speaker 2: make some changes. Do you expect any or do you
6:42
Speaker 2: think we might all be surprised by what they do when.
6:45
Speaker 1: We come back?
6:46
Speaker 3: Are you talking about changes from the coaching staff and
6:48
Speaker 3: the way that they do things? Because the coach said
6:50
Speaker 3: they're not touching their process. And why would you? I mean,
6:53
Speaker 3: you went up against the best defense in football, or
6:55
Speaker 3: at least the most talented defense in football, and you
6:57
Speaker 3: punched and you counterpunched. Your offense is more than capable
7:01
Speaker 3: of taking on an elite-level defense. I wouldn't change anything.
7:04
Speaker 3: anything at all process-wise. In terms of the roster, well,
7:08
Speaker 3: my hot take kind of touches on that, so I'll
7:10
Speaker 3: save it for that. But it wouldn't change a lot.
7:12
Speaker 3: You're 4-2, for goodness sakes. Look at other 4-2 teams
7:15
Speaker 3: in the national football. You think the Ravens aren't kicking
7:17
Speaker 3: themselves for losing when they had a 10-point lead against
7:20
Speaker 3: the Browns the other night? Look at the Cowboys. I mean,
7:22
Speaker 3: there's lots of teams that would love to be where
7:25
Speaker 3: you are at 4-2.
7:26
Speaker 1: John, I.
7:28
Speaker 3: Don't think they're going 15-2, right? There's another loss or
7:31
Speaker 3: two coming if they do things right this year. I
7:34
Speaker 3: wouldn't even think about anything dramatic.
7:37
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm not sure you're going to see anything that
7:39
Speaker 4: fans are going to look out during the Colts game
7:41
Speaker 4: and say, oh, well, that's what they're doing differently. Again,
7:45
Speaker 4: my hot take's a little bit about this. I'm not
7:46
Speaker 4: going to spoil it because, boy, is it hot. But
7:50
Speaker 4: you do wonder, they still need some, again, in-the-moment pass
7:58
Speaker 4: rush late. I don't think Sunday was anybody's fault because
8:02
Speaker 4: I thought the field had a lot to do with it.
8:03
Speaker 4: But That's there. You do wonder, after Brian Thomas Jr.
8:07
Speaker 4: not playing on Sunday in the second half, where that goes.
8:13
Speaker 4: But I don't expect any very much roster-shaping, earth-shaking move.
8:21
Speaker 1: Nothing crazy.
8:22
Speaker 2: All right, we've got a lot of highlights from that
8:23
Speaker 2: matchup against the Texans on Sunday. We'll look at the
8:25
Speaker 2: tape when we come back. Welcome back into Jags AM
8:34
Speaker 2: presented to you by Lowe's and we're doing our Monday
8:37
Speaker 2: kind of recap show on Tuesday as the team traveled
8:39
Speaker 2: back from London and they had their first AFC South
8:42
Speaker 2: matchup of the season taking on the Texans who really
8:45
Speaker 2: feels like those two teams just back and forth the
8:47
Speaker 2: last couple of years and it's continuing on as the
8:50
Speaker 2: While we were not happy with the results, that was
8:53
Speaker 2: a great game to watch, back and forth, just competitive,
8:57
Speaker 2: and that's what you want to see. And as nice
8:58
Speaker 2: as it would have been to kind of knock the
9:00
Speaker 2: Texans out, you kind of felt like they were going
9:02
Speaker 2: to still be in it in some.
9:03
Speaker 1: Kind of way.
9:03
Speaker 3: Well, they came over with a sense of desperation. They
9:05
Speaker 3: knew where they were. I was a little concerned during
9:08
Speaker 3: the week, and not because I saw anything, John, but
9:10
Speaker 3: just knowing the emotional high the team was on after
9:14
Speaker 3: that win at Tottenham, you've got to bring it back
9:16
Speaker 3: down and be able to match that. the Texans level
9:19
Speaker 3: of intensity and I thought the Jaguars did for most
9:22
Speaker 3: of that game there were a couple of moments early
9:23
Speaker 3: where they kind of got their feet underneath them but
9:25
Speaker 3: I thought they did and that was a really encouraging
9:27
Speaker 3: thing it felt like a playoff game Kai the way
9:29
Speaker 3: that they were battling into the fourth quarter going back
9:31
Speaker 3: and forth just sitting there at Wembley it felt like
9:34
Speaker 3: a playoff caliber atmosphere it was a lot of fun.
9:37
Speaker 4: Yeah and you got to give credit to the Texans
9:39
Speaker 4: there's moments in the NFL now and uh you know
9:42
Speaker 4: there's ways that they see the game maybe they didn't
9:45
Speaker 4: see it 30 years ago uh And a lot of
9:49
Speaker 4: it's about when you hold the lead, when you get
9:51
Speaker 4: the lead. I didn't think about it as much during
9:55
Speaker 4: the game as I did after looking back at it.
9:57
Speaker 4: Jaguars go 14-10 at the end of the half. You
10:00
Speaker 4: thought it was the end of the half. Then the
10:02
Speaker 4: Texans get one that, time-wise, you feel like they should
10:05
Speaker 4: have minimum or maximum gotten a field goal, and they
10:07
Speaker 4: get a touchdown, and they're up. And then they score.
10:10
Speaker 4: The Jaguars don't touch the ball, and they go from
10:11
Speaker 4: up 4 to down 10. And then they just couldn't quite...
10:17
Speaker 4: Liam Cohen's The thoughts on it were fantastic. Kept coming,
10:21
Speaker 4: kept coming, kept coming. I thought that was a good
10:24
Speaker 4: sign they'll be able to use. I don't worry about
10:27
Speaker 4: anything that's happened so far this season because I think
10:31
Speaker 4: there's a lot they're going to learn from it. But
10:36
Speaker 4: I still feel like that game is one. It was
10:38
Speaker 4: a weird game. And I feel like back there, they
10:40
Speaker 4: feel like that's one that got away that probably shouldn't have.
10:43
Speaker 4: But I don't know that they're kicking themselves as much
10:45
Speaker 4: as there were weird circumstances involved.
10:47
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, you just... Listen, there's a lot of panic,
10:51
Speaker 3: if you will, not back there about the secondary giving
10:54
Speaker 3: up too many big plays, but that quarterback for them
10:56
Speaker 3: played a hell of a game.
10:58
Speaker 1: I mean, C.J.
10:58
Speaker 3: Stroud was playing really good football coming in, and I
11:01
Speaker 3: don't think anybody thought, well, he's going to come out
11:02
Speaker 3: here and dice this defense up.
11:04
Speaker 4: Well, he did.
11:04
Speaker 3: He had a really big day. And Jordan Lewis made
11:08
Speaker 3: a mistake in the final drive that allowed that 19-yard
11:12
Speaker 3: catch and run. One mistake was all it took. One
11:16
Speaker 3: play to put yourself in a terrible situation, and the
11:19
Speaker 3: quarterback took advantage. They do that. One thing I want
11:21
Speaker 3: to say, because I don't think it's gotten a lot
11:23
Speaker 3: of play. I also had some concern about Walker Little
11:27
Speaker 3: holding up because he hadn't played a lot of football
11:29
Speaker 3: at left tackle. The way those two tackles played, even
11:32
Speaker 3: though the surface was slick and all of that, I
11:35
Speaker 3: thought the offensive tackles played well, and I think that
11:37
Speaker 3: bodes really well for where this team is headed in
11:39
Speaker 3: the second half of the season that they can count
11:42
Speaker 3: on guys.
11:43
Speaker 1: Let's take a look early on. This is the first
11:45
Speaker 1: Texans touchdown.
11:46
Speaker 2: They had a long pass connection to Nico Collins, who
11:49
Speaker 2: has historically had field days against Jacksonville, and all credit
11:53
Speaker 2: to Stroud for what he's been able to do this season,
11:57
Speaker 2: because you may look at the box score and think, oh,
11:59
Speaker 2: the Texans were losing because the offense wasn't playing well.
12:01
Speaker 1: That's not been the case. CJ Stroud has been playing
12:03
Speaker 1: very well. This was early on with Travis Hunter.
12:05
Speaker 2: He was on Nico Collins a lot during the game,
12:08
Speaker 2: and This is probably one he would like back, but
12:10
Speaker 2: he had some other great plays on Nico, and it
12:12
Speaker 2: was more Jalen Noel, I think, that had a lot
12:14
Speaker 2: of success yesterday. And overall, the defense, it just felt
12:18
Speaker 2: to me like some of the communication wasn't there. And
12:21
Speaker 2: I know a lot of this is Eric Murray was
12:23
Speaker 2: out for a game, so he's coming back in. These
12:24
Speaker 2: are moving parts, but it just felt like there was
12:26
Speaker 2: some miscommunication. This one over the middle was like Eric
12:30
Speaker 2: Murray and Foye Aluokun trying to figure out who was
12:31
Speaker 2: supposed to cover the ball there in the middle. So
12:34
Speaker 2: for me, those are fixable things, yes. I don't feel like...
12:38
Speaker 2: I'm sure they missed Monteric Brown some as well. He
12:40
Speaker 2: hasn't been playing because of his soft tissue injury. It
12:42
Speaker 2: feels like they just need to get their communication down. And, yes,
12:44
Speaker 2: they're a victim to a really talented Texans offense.
12:49
Speaker 4: Well, I think the Texans in a normal environment probably
12:53
Speaker 4: get 20-24. I know fans don't want to hear this,
12:58
Speaker 4: and even I don't like really talking about it that much.
13:01
Speaker 4: I don't think that you can underestimate the impact of
13:05
Speaker 4: the field the other day. The Texans had, what, two pressures,
13:09
Speaker 4: and the Jaguars had three. Maybe it was switched. That's
13:13
Speaker 4: really low, and you kind of felt it. There was
13:16
Speaker 4: a play earlier where Parker Washington, who's usually like a
13:22
Speaker 4: pinball machine, sort of couldn't hold his footing and stepped out.
13:27
Speaker 4: Liam's been very open about it, not as an excuse,
13:29
Speaker 4: but just trying to explain. It's an offensive field. It's
13:32
Speaker 4: hard to cover. It's hard to pass rush. Now, I'm
13:34
Speaker 4: not saying the Jaguars don't have issues give no explosives
13:38
Speaker 4: this year. But I think you have to reduce your
13:41
Speaker 4: panic and analyze that specific game within the context of that.
13:45
Speaker 4: You have two quarterbacks.
13:46
Speaker 3: Each throw for more than 300 yards and three touchdowns.
13:48
Speaker 3: And how much can you blame the field, though? I mean,
13:51
Speaker 3: I know people want.
13:52
Speaker 4: To point to that. Because it's an offensive. It helps
13:55
Speaker 4: the offense.
13:56
Speaker 3: That's what you were saying, right? Parker Washington.
13:58
Speaker 4: Yeah. Slick fields help the offense generally more than they
14:03
Speaker 4: help the defense. Ask anybody who's played in snow.
14:06
Speaker 2: I think there's some value in terms of when you
14:08
Speaker 2: look at the pass rush for both teams, no one
14:10
Speaker 2: getting home.
14:11
Speaker 1: On sacks in a game like that.
14:12
Speaker 4: Five pressures total.
14:13
Speaker 2: Exactly, where so much of that is leverage, and you
14:16
Speaker 2: look at the defensive front for the Texans who always
14:18
Speaker 2: seem to get home. That seems to be something that
14:21
Speaker 2: sticks out and can point.
14:22
Speaker 1: To that as well.
14:23
Speaker 2: Let's give some credit to Basial Tootin, who had two
14:25
Speaker 2: touchdowns on the day. And this was more of a
14:28
Speaker 2: running game, as mentioned. But he showed some really great vision.
14:31
Speaker 2: He bounced outside. This one is called back by the
14:34
Speaker 2: holding penalty.
14:35
Speaker 4: After he was five yards into the end zone.
14:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, a little bit later.
14:38
Speaker 3: And how can you call something you can't see?
14:40
Speaker 2: So he would have had three touchdowns on the day
14:42
Speaker 2: had this one gone through.
14:44
Speaker 1: And then it kind of led to Trevor Lawrence's interception
14:46
Speaker 1: in the end zone.
14:47
Speaker 2: So one of the mistakes that feels like it kind
14:50
Speaker 2: of changes the momentum of the game as well. Ben
14:53
Speaker 2: Tootin goes on later to get a touchdown. It was just,
14:57
Speaker 2: as we mentioned back and forth, it just couldn't get
14:59
Speaker 2: the rhythm going. And because if it's a game like
15:01
Speaker 2: this where it's a shootout like that, you have one mistake,
15:03
Speaker 2: as mentioned, and then it just.
15:04
Speaker 1: Goes downhill from there.
15:05
Speaker 4: And honestly, Brian, I'll let you talk about it because
15:07
Speaker 4: I've already kind of mentioned it. I kind of think
15:10
Speaker 4: the penalties... some of the weirdness of the penalties. We've
15:15
Speaker 4: done a lot of shows together over the years. I
15:17
Speaker 4: rarely talk about penalties because I think they even out-
15:22
Speaker 4: Excuse me.
15:22
Speaker 3: Over the course of the season, they do.
15:25
Speaker 4: But in the last couple of games, there's been some
15:27
Speaker 4: weird ones. And I'm not a conspiracy theory guy. I
15:29
Speaker 4: think it's just been bad breaks against them. But I
15:33
Speaker 4: think that's one reason they're not overly concerned about the
15:36
Speaker 4: team overall. I think they can see it. They've had
15:39
Speaker 4: a couple of weird things taken away from them that
15:41
Speaker 4: shouldn't have been.
15:43
Speaker 3: That you just can't explain. No one can explain it.
15:47
Speaker 3: If you don't see it, how can you call it?
15:49
Speaker 3: There was another one. I think it was in the
15:51
Speaker 3: third quarter, and the quarterback, C.J. Stroud, was in the pocket,
15:55
Speaker 3: and he turned and he threw it to the sideline.
15:57
Speaker 3: It didn't get back to the line of scrimmage, and
15:58
Speaker 3: there was no one within seven yards of where he was. Now,
16:01
Speaker 3: there was a five-yard penalty on that play called against
16:03
Speaker 3: Jarrion Jones that gave the Texans a first down in
16:05
Speaker 3: the red zone, but not even a flag, not even
16:07
Speaker 3: a conversation about the quarterback. intentionally grounding the ball. I mean,
16:12
Speaker 3: there were just moments in that game that just played
16:14
Speaker 3: into all the conspiracy theories. How can you not even
16:16
Speaker 3: have a conversation about that?
16:18
Speaker 4: And I think overall, I think as Travis Hunter's reputation grows,
16:24
Speaker 4: I think he will get calls that he should already
16:26
Speaker 4: be getting. I thought a couple of his interference, and again,
16:31
Speaker 4: I'm not one to sit here and talk about it
16:33
Speaker 4: a whole lot, but he's had some interference calls go
16:35
Speaker 4: against him. There's no face guarding in the NFL.
16:38
Speaker 1: No.
16:38
Speaker 4: And they basically called me the other day for face guarding.
16:42
Speaker 4: Maybe there was some contact, but I don't know. It's
16:47
Speaker 4: been a tough couple of weeks or tough few weeks.
16:50
Speaker 4: And again, I think that's why there's not a level
16:52
Speaker 4: of panic because I think they can see that they're
16:54
Speaker 4: doing things correctly. And hopefully that does even out, like
16:57
Speaker 4: you said.
16:58
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm not sure why people would panic. I left
17:01
Speaker 3: this game feeling good about this football team's ability to
17:03
Speaker 3: really take another step. Yes, and some guys had a
17:07
Speaker 3: bad day, right, on the defensive side in particular for
17:10
Speaker 3: the reasons perhaps that you mentioned that the field was
17:11
Speaker 3: a problem for them. There's no reason at 4-2 to
17:15
Speaker 3: feel bad about where this football team is.
17:17
Speaker 2: How about another flash from one of your rookies, Nate Borkature,
17:19
Speaker 2: getting his first career NFL touchdown.
17:21
Speaker 1: And it was a doozy.
17:22
Speaker 2: I'm a basketball girl, so I loved it. It was
17:25
Speaker 2: like he was going up for a rebound, just comes
17:26
Speaker 2: down with it with one hand, and I was making
17:29
Speaker 2: a joke on Twitter the other day saying we should
17:32
Speaker 2: all be able to reach a consensus and say that
17:34
Speaker 2: that was.
17:34
Speaker 1: A great catch.
17:35
Speaker 3: It was a great catch. It was a great pick
17:36
Speaker 3: by the Jaguars at 56, no matter what anybody thought
17:39
Speaker 3: back then. They didn't draft him because he had 10
17:42
Speaker 3: of these at Texas A & M and Nebraska. They
17:44
Speaker 3: drafted him because of the way that he would impact
17:47
Speaker 3: the offense in moments like this in the red zone
17:50
Speaker 3: and in the running game where he moves people. He
17:52
Speaker 3: just physically takes people out of the play and is
17:56
Speaker 3: a huge part of what they do. Great pick at 56.
17:59
Speaker 4: Look, he's a good player, and I was happy for
18:03
Speaker 4: him that he got this because, look, football people who
18:09
Speaker 4: really study it can analyze him for what you're talking about.
18:12
Speaker 4: Consensus is always going to love that, so good on
18:15
Speaker 4: him for getting that and maybe silencing some of the
18:20
Speaker 4: unfair criticism.
18:21
Speaker 3: Six games in, he is everything they hoped he would be,
18:25
Speaker 3: an impact football player.
18:28
Speaker 2: Let's jump ahead as well and look at some of
18:30
Speaker 2: Travis Hunter's catches and then his touchdown because, as mentioned,
18:34
Speaker 2: He had a breakout performance in London in front of
18:37
Speaker 2: a national audience because it's an early game, so it's
18:39
Speaker 2: the only game on. And this, running around without one
18:43
Speaker 2: shoe on as well to get a huge gain. And
18:47
Speaker 2: then later on he gets his first touchdown of the season.
18:51
Speaker 2: It looks like they utilized him more in the second
18:54
Speaker 2: half of this game after they kind of didn't use
18:56
Speaker 2: Ryan Thomas Jr. in the second half. And he's just
18:58
Speaker 2: so special when he gets the ball in his hands, John.
19:01
Speaker 2: We say it so much, but you were seeing it
19:03
Speaker 2: on Sunday.
19:04
Speaker 4: Well, I run around without my one shoe on all
19:07
Speaker 4: the time.
19:07
Speaker 1: You look just like that.
19:08
Speaker 4: I do. It was hard as a rookie to get
19:15
Speaker 4: a true feel for a potential impact because it was
19:17
Speaker 4: so short. You're a rookie. You're trying to figure it out.
19:22
Speaker 4: Game by game now, I've had some people write me saying, well,
19:26
Speaker 4: you know, the interception was a miracle in the end zone.
19:29
Speaker 4: I've done it twice now. And he's done it in
19:32
Speaker 4: big situations. He makes plays on the ball. I remember
19:35
Speaker 4: Bucky Brooks over and over again, when he got drafted,
19:37
Speaker 4: kept saying, making plays on the ball is his superpower.
19:42
Speaker 4: He's different than most players we've seen in a long
19:46
Speaker 4: time in the NFL. He's, I don't know, at the
19:48
Speaker 4: next level, whatever. He's unbelievable at making those plays. We're
19:53
Speaker 4: starting to see it and, you know, good. It's big.
19:57
Speaker 3: I use the term elite in the A block. He's rare.
20:00
Speaker 3: I mean, the things, the way he moves, the plays
20:02
Speaker 3: that he makes, he is a rare talent and he's
20:05
Speaker 3: still four games away. from his 17th game, which would
20:09
Speaker 3: be his first complete season. His upward trajectory, still we
20:15
Speaker 3: can't see how good he can be.
20:18
Speaker 2: Let's take a look at his interception as well. So
20:21
Speaker 2: we have a big catch that kind of put the
20:23
Speaker 2: Texans in range in the red zone. And then on
20:26
Speaker 2: that interception from Travis Hunter, which, which was so unique,
20:30
Speaker 2: you didn't see it on the broadcast if you were
20:31
Speaker 2: watching at home because they missed it, but on the replay,
20:33
Speaker 2: you saw it. Travis Hunter stumbled a little bit and
20:36
Speaker 2: then he's able to get.
20:36
Speaker 1: Back and make that interception.
20:38
Speaker 2: And that's that speed that people aren't familiar with, I
20:42
Speaker 2: think as well, because this was the play to set
20:44
Speaker 2: up the touchdown or the interception, but.
20:48
Speaker 1: He's able to make up time.
20:49
Speaker 2: Cause if he does slip on a field like that,
20:51
Speaker 2: he can still make it back and get the pick,
20:53
Speaker 2: which a lot of people cannot do.
20:55
Speaker 1: And I think CJ Stroup thought he had.
20:57
Speaker 2: Them and then immediately let go of the football and
20:59
Speaker 2: was like, no, and wanted it back because he just
21:03
Speaker 2: flew in there and took it, took it right away.
21:04
Speaker 4: I think it's a good point, Kai. I think I
21:10
Speaker 4: missed it. He moves quicker than but it doesn't look
21:16
Speaker 4: like he's moving quick. So I think people maybe don't, oh,
21:20
Speaker 4: Stroud threw him the ball, right? He made the play
21:24
Speaker 4: by recovering quickly, moving with uncommon quickness. In the NFL,
21:31
Speaker 4: a split second makes all the difference. He's got an
21:33
Speaker 4: extra split second in moments that quarterbacks don't expect because
21:37
Speaker 4: they're not used to seeing a corner move that way.
21:40
Speaker 4: It seems to me that's a little bit of, of
21:42
Speaker 4: the reason that he's been able to make plays on
21:44
Speaker 4: the ball.
21:44
Speaker 3: He's also a top competitor. I mean, he wants to
21:47
Speaker 3: be in that situation. They can't hardly get him off
21:50
Speaker 3: the field if it's up to him because he always
21:52
Speaker 3: wants to play, and that's a rare quality, too.
21:55
Speaker 2: All right, stay with us here on JAGZAM. We are
21:57
Speaker 2: going to give you our hot takes when we come
21:59
Speaker 2: back after the break.
22:02
Speaker 1: Welcome back into JAGZAM, brought to you by Lowe's.
22:05
Speaker 2: We're going to give you our hot takes as we
22:06
Speaker 2: head into the bye week. The Jaguars come back from
22:09
Speaker 2: London 1-1, Brian. 4-2 at the bye week. That's not
22:13
Speaker 2: bad by any means. How are you feeling, and what's
22:15
Speaker 2: your hot take?
22:16
Speaker 3: I feel good about this football team.
22:17
Speaker 2: 4-2?
22:18
Speaker 3: I forget when we did our preseason run through the roster.
22:20
Speaker 3: I forget what we had, but I don't think I
22:22
Speaker 3: had them any better than 4-2.
22:22
Speaker 1: 6-0.
22:23
Speaker 3: Okay, well, that's you, Mr. Optimist. My hot take is this.
22:27
Speaker 3: No sauce, please. I know everybody is out there putting
22:31
Speaker 3: their to-do list together for James Gladstone and who to
22:34
Speaker 3: trade for and what they think the value is. But
22:37
Speaker 3: you only have to look at what happened in Indianapolis
22:40
Speaker 3: yesterday to see exactly how swinging for the fences can
22:43
Speaker 3: go wrong. A year ago, the Colts were 8-1. Their
22:46
Speaker 3: quarterback was playing very good football. It was making everything go,
22:50
Speaker 3: so they bet the farm. Two ones, and they get
22:53
Speaker 3: Sauce Gardner. Then the quarterback hurts his Achilles. Gardner has
22:57
Speaker 3: not been an impact player for a moment since they
23:00
Speaker 3: did it, and they now have a disaster on their hands,
23:04
Speaker 3: an utter disaster. They need a quarterback because Daniel Jones
23:06
Speaker 3: is not the guy, and they've mortgaged their salary cap,
23:09
Speaker 3: and they don't have anything to work with. A year ago,
23:12
Speaker 3: the Jaguars traded fourth and sixth round picks, John, to
23:15
Speaker 3: the Las Vegas Raiders for Jacoby Myers, and he quietly
23:18
Speaker 3: came in here and unlocked everything. So please, don't give
23:22
Speaker 3: me the big swing for the fence if you're going
23:24
Speaker 3: to make some changes. I get it. Maybe Brian Thomas Jr.
23:27
Speaker 3: needs to go and find greener pastures this year, and
23:30
Speaker 3: you can turn that into something. But go find me,
23:33
Speaker 3: whether it's a pass rusher or a defensive back. Go
23:36
Speaker 3: find me a Jacoby Myers, a guy that you love,
23:40
Speaker 3: that fits what this team does, that costs me a
23:43
Speaker 3: four and a six and not a one or a two,
23:46
Speaker 3: but gives me the player that I need. I don't
23:49
Speaker 3: need him to be a marquee name. I don't need
23:51
Speaker 3: the fans and what do you call it, consensus? I
23:53
Speaker 3: don't care what consensus is because nobody wants consensus about
23:56
Speaker 3: Jacoby Myers. Go give me Jacoby Myers. No sauce, please.
24:01
Speaker 4: Yeah, I agree. I don't think you need a splash.
24:03
Speaker 4: I mean, a lot of times when you have a
24:03
Speaker 4: big splash, you're standing in the pool naked. That happens
24:07
Speaker 4: to you. That's not what you're looking for. I completely agree.
24:13
Speaker 4: I think they will make a move of some kind,
24:15
Speaker 4: but I don't think it's going to be that level.
24:20
Speaker 4: I went with The Season Starts Now. I almost didn't
24:25
Speaker 4: because it's sort of a cliche. It's sort of boring,
24:27
Speaker 4: but I'm sort of a cliche and I'm sort of boring.
24:30
Speaker 4: Four and two I was struck by Liam's mood after
24:39
Speaker 4: the game, I guess, where he expressed confidence immediately. He didn't,
24:43
Speaker 4: I mean, yes, he was upset about the loss, but
24:47
Speaker 4: big picture with this team, they got out of London,
24:50
Speaker 4: they have a two-game lead, they're two games up, four
24:53
Speaker 4: and two, they have played as well as any team
24:55
Speaker 4: in the league for the most part. They are in
24:59
Speaker 4: such a great situation, and I keep remembering last year
25:02
Speaker 4: where after the bye, They looked, I would say, like
25:07
Speaker 4: a different team, but it was a team that kept
25:10
Speaker 4: getting better and better and better. I have no reason
25:13
Speaker 4: to think that that won't happen again. I think the
25:15
Speaker 4: season starts now. I think it's all out in front
25:17
Speaker 4: of them. And I think by week, what, 11 or 12,
25:23
Speaker 4: the ups and downs of the first six weeks... will
25:26
Speaker 4: sort of calm and people will say, oh, they got
25:28
Speaker 4: a foreign tooth to break. That was what they wanted
25:30
Speaker 4: to do.
25:30
Speaker 3: Let me add to your point. Last week at a
25:32
Speaker 3: news conference, a British writer asked Liam about the moments
25:37
Speaker 3: in his first season where he felt things change. And
25:40
Speaker 3: he pointed to losses, the loss to the Texans in November.
25:43
Speaker 3: He pointed to those moments where they stumbled and fell
25:46
Speaker 3: and got back up. Well, they got back up in
25:49
Speaker 3: the fourth quarter of this ballgame, right? The quarterback threw
25:52
Speaker 3: the interception in the first half in the fourth quarter.
25:54
Speaker 3: They're down by 10. They cut it to three. They're
25:56
Speaker 3: down by 10. They cut it to three. I mean,
25:57
Speaker 3: they just kept coming. This coach is confident in his team.
26:02
Speaker 3: So am I. How can you not be with what
26:05
Speaker 3: this offense is capable of doing? It's an offensive league.
26:07
Speaker 3: And this defensive coordinator. Okay, so they had a bad day.
26:10
Speaker 3: And that other quarterback had a really good day. Four
26:13
Speaker 3: and two? Count me in.
26:16
Speaker 4: Really good coaches with perspective sometimes handle losses like this.
26:22
Speaker 4: I had a coach tell me once after a two-game
26:25
Speaker 4: losing streak, this is when they listen. This is when
26:28
Speaker 4: the players listen.
26:30
Speaker 2: Mine is a bit of a take off this as
26:32
Speaker 2: well because it gets worse before it gets better and
26:35
Speaker 2: worse is subjective. I'm not saying it's bad by any means,
26:38
Speaker 2: but these are the games you learn from. When you
26:40
Speaker 2: have a blowout victory, you don't get anything out of that.
26:42
Speaker 2: And as much as fun as I had watching the
26:45
Speaker 2: Eagles game when they won at the final second, When
26:48
Speaker 2: you win, sometimes it takes some of the conversation out of,
26:51
Speaker 2: you know, takes some of that hurt out of the conversation.
26:53
Speaker 2: So you can still work on stuff after a win,
26:55
Speaker 2: but it doesn't always hit home is when you feel
26:57
Speaker 2: the pain of.
26:57
Speaker 1: The loss coming in.
26:58
Speaker 2: You lose a division rival matchup against the Texans, that
27:01
Speaker 2: stings no matter what, and you lose it at the
27:03
Speaker 2: last second.
27:04
Speaker 1: So now is when people will listen a little bit more.
27:06
Speaker 2: I still stand by my thought that they're going to
27:08
Speaker 2: have a worse record than they had last year.
27:10
Speaker 1: 13-4 is tremendous.
27:11
Speaker 2: I just don't think with this schedule they are going
27:13
Speaker 2: to get back to that. So there will be more
27:16
Speaker 2: losses along the way, and those are learning points. And
27:17
Speaker 2: I think for the betterment of this team, they will
27:21
Speaker 2: have other losses that hurt a lot, but it's better
27:24
Speaker 2: for playoff time.
27:25
Speaker 3: Let me tell you why I like where they're at
27:26
Speaker 3: right now, to your point. They've got two weeks now
27:29
Speaker 3: to kind of grind on this. These guys are going
27:31
Speaker 3: to get away and they'll enjoy their family and all
27:34
Speaker 3: of that stuff. But they've got two weeks to grind
27:35
Speaker 3: on it. Then they get a division rival, right? The Colts.
27:38
Speaker 3: The Colts are a mess. They're probably going to go
27:40
Speaker 3: get beat in Minnesota and come in here. So what?
27:43
Speaker 3: You come in here or they come in here and
27:45
Speaker 3: you hammer them. And then, John, you turn around on
27:47
Speaker 3: a short week and you get one of the best
27:48
Speaker 3: teams in football that will have Lamar Jackson back. Talk
27:51
Speaker 3: about sharpening the axe, right? Talk about getting ready to
27:55
Speaker 3: go and start swinging. I like where this team is at.
27:58
Speaker 3: I like the way the schedule sets up for them
27:59
Speaker 3: the next couple of weeks. If they're going to lose
28:02
Speaker 3: a ballgame, and nobody thought they were going to be 16-1,
28:04
Speaker 3: nobody thinks they're going to be 15-2, to lose this
28:07
Speaker 3: ballgame with what's in front of them immediately, I think
28:10
Speaker 3: it's a great position to be in.
28:12
Speaker 1: All right, stay with us.
28:13
Speaker 2: We'll tell you what's coming up the rest of the
28:14
Speaker 2: bye week when we come back after the break.
28:22
Speaker 6: I'll say today, my teammates came to me and just
28:24
Speaker 6: told me, after I give up that deep ball trap,
28:26
Speaker 6: go out there and be yourself. Next play, mindset. I'll
28:29
Speaker 6: probably tell you, the whole defense, they came up to
28:31
Speaker 6: me and told me, we know who you are. Go
28:34
Speaker 6: out there and shine. When your time is coming, go
28:36
Speaker 6: out there and prove to everybody what you can do.
28:38
Speaker 6: And they kept me uplifted.
28:40
Speaker 1: Kept motivating me.
28:41
Speaker 3: I was able to shine on defense.
28:42
Speaker 6: And then when I went to the offensive side of
28:44
Speaker 6: the ball, that motivation just carried over.
28:47
Speaker 2: I'm reflecting on his teammates supporting him and the success
28:50
Speaker 2: he was able to have in that London game. And
28:53
Speaker 2: Brian's probably proof positive. The Jaguars had a plan. They
28:56
Speaker 2: wanted him full time on defense and to work him
28:58
Speaker 2: into offense. Is this the beginning of that switch over
29:01
Speaker 2: now that they feel comfortable with him on offense?
29:02
Speaker 3: Well, from what I hear, he just doesn't he doesn't tire.
29:06
Speaker 1: Right.
29:06
Speaker 3: I mean, people are still amazed. at his energy level. So, yeah, listen,
29:11
Speaker 3: the more he does, I'll go back and say it, touchdown,
29:13
Speaker 3: interception gives you a chance to tie the ball game
29:17
Speaker 3: on the strength of his talent and his ability alone. Yeah,
29:20
Speaker 3: give me more. But as I said earlier when we
29:22
Speaker 3: had this conversation about his snaps, just make sure you're
29:25
Speaker 3: giving me the best of him. And if there is
29:27
Speaker 3: a moment where he needs to sit because you need
29:29
Speaker 3: to get the best from him and not just good enough,
29:32
Speaker 3: then let him sit a little bit.
29:34
Speaker 4: Things don't always happen right. now in this world.
29:39
Speaker 3: And uh I feel like you have a son maybe
29:42
Speaker 3: you've said that too.
29:43
Speaker 4: Yeah the Jaguars had a plan with this uh and
29:47
Speaker 4: we're seeing the plan yeah so uh I don't again
29:51
Speaker 4: I don't know that we even know ultimately how it's
29:54
Speaker 4: gonna look cause I'm not sure they necessarily know exactly
29:57
Speaker 4: how it's gonna look every week um And I'm to
30:01
Speaker 4: the point now where I think it's going to be
30:03
Speaker 4: fun to watch and very secure in the idea that
30:07
Speaker 4: it's going to help and it's going to be a
30:09
Speaker 4: positive just a matter of how it looks.
30:11
Speaker 3: That he did it in London when it was the
30:13
Speaker 3: only game on for people all around the world to
30:16
Speaker 3: watch just solidifies his future as a marquee player in
30:21
Speaker 3: this league.
30:22
Speaker 2: Very nice.
30:23
Speaker 1: All right, for the rest of the week, the players
30:24
Speaker 1: are in today. They've got some meetings.
30:26
Speaker 2: We will be back with you tomorrow for Jags AM,
30:28
Speaker 2: our final one of the week, as we kind of
30:30
Speaker 2: recap the first six weeks and also look around the
30:32
Speaker 2: NFL and see what else is going on.
30:34
Speaker 1: We'll see you tomorrow.