What are the Jacksonville Jaguars talking about ahead of Sunday’s matchup in Detroit at Ford Field against the Lions? Let’s find out:
1. Jacksonville played without starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence (shoulder) in their 12-7 loss to Minnesota last week. Lawrence will be out again this week against the Lions, Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said.
“Trevor will be out,” Pederson announced Wednesday. “We just decided this week. He’s getting close. We don’t want to put a player out there who isn’t 100 percent.”
The Jaguars have a bye Week 12 following the Lions game. Mac Jones started for Jacksonville last week and will get the start again Sunday. He was 14-of-22 passing for 111 yards with one rushing touchdown, two interceptions and a 38.3 passer rating against the Vikings. He also lost a fumble.
2. There is no quit in the Jaguars despite their 2-8 record to start the season.
“I feel like we still have a pretty good chance of winning the rest of the games, but obviously we have to start with next week,” veteran edge rusher Josh Hines-Allen said this week. “If we keep fighting, I feel like we’re just getting better, especially defensively, offensively. I feel like they’re going to find their groove and once they do, we’re going to be playing some great ball.”
3. “It’s a big-play offense,” Pederson said when asked about the challenge this week slowing down Detroit’s offense. “It’s opportunities to push the ball down the field with play action pass, something that (Jared) Goff has been good at even when he was in LA.
“The movement game, but it all kind of stems off their run. I think it starts there. This is a team that’s not shy about pushing the ball down the field when they can.”
Pederson said Houston was able to stop the run and disrupt Goff early in that game and he said that’s key for trying to slow down Detroit Sunday.
4. The Jaguars players certainly know what kind of test stands in front of them this week going on the road to play the 8-1 Lions.
“(The Lions are) one of the best teams, probably the best team in the National Football League,” Hines-Allen said. “But we’re excited about this challenge. We know what they’re about. They don’t really change for anybody. So, we can dial in and understand what we need to do up front and in the back end. It’s going to be a tough game, but we want to do what we have to do.”
5. People see the 2-8 record with Jacksonville but might not know that six of those losses were one-score games, including their last three to current playoff teams — Green Bay (30-27), Philadelphia (28-23) and Minnesota (12-7).
“We’ve had a lot of games where we feel like we were right there being a one-score game that we feel like we could have got,” rookie wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. said.
6. The Jaguars’ defense will challenge teams in the passing game. Travon Walker and Hines-Allen have 12.5 sacks between them and it’s an aggressive secondary that held Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson (48 yards) and Jordan Addison (25) to seven catches for 73 yards with no touchdowns last week. Vikings receivers combined for just 95 yards total.
“I thought the corners played really well,” Pederson said. “To hold that group really not a whole lot offensively was good. They played physical. They came up and made tackles. The entire secondary played their best football (Sunday).”
7. Jacksonville ranks 25th in total offense and 23rd in passing, but they have some weapons and can make big plays, though they’ll miss Lawrence, who’s third in the AFC behind only Lamar Jackson (35) and Josh Allen (33) with 31 completions of 20-plus yards this season. Thomas is tied for first among all rookies with 607 receiving yards and averages 16.4 yards per reception.
“We just have to be better with the little things and execute the little things and that’ll do it,” Thomas said this week about getting more from the offense. “Executing the little things and being where we need to be and being in the right spots at all times and it’ll be better.”
