There hasn’t been much to smile about on offense for the Jags but Doug Marrone likes what he’s seen out of WR DJ Chark.
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The Jacksonville Jaguars offense hasn’t been good since coming off the bye and it’s resulted in two consecutive divisional losses for the team. Running back Leonard Fournette has been underutilized and veteran quarterback Nick Foles didn’t provide the spark fans were hoping for in his debut last Sunday. However, one player has continued his growth in receiver DJ Chark Jr., who is playing at a Pro Bowl level and is tied for the most touchdowns (eight) of any receiver in football with Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones Jr.
In Sunday’s blowout loss to the Indianapolis Colts, Chark was the only bright offensive spot in the eyes of most, registering his third 100-yard day and hauling in two touchdown passes. As a result, he was one of the topics of discussion for coach Doug Marrone Wednesday, who raved about what he’s brought to the table.
“He just keeps getting better,” Marrone said Wednesday “I mean he’s wherever he is in receptions and yardage and he has eight touchdowns for us this year, so he’s playing really well. He’s big, he’s strong, he’s fast, he can get to contested balls, he can catch the ball over the middle, he can run and then score, so he’s doing a lot of things well.”
Marrone also went into details about how the second-year receiver has evolved from his rookie season, which was a rough one full of drops, mistakes, penalties and ended with injury for Chark.
“It’s been great,” Marrone added. “For as much hard work as he’s put in, he’s kind of quiet and just works his butt off. It’s always good to see someone with the talent he has really starting to come along and he’ll get better and continue to get better.”
It’s beginning to look like the Jags have fallen far enough behind to say they won’t make the playoffs, however, Chark is one of the bright spots fans can watch along the way. The Jags came into the season needing an answer at receiver due to Allen Robinson leaving in 2018 and they’ve seemingly found a new No. 1.
Chark will roll into Week 12 with 796 yards to his name, which means he needs slightly over 200 yards to be the first receiver since the Allen Bros. to hit 1,000 yards. With six games he should do that with ease, which could lead to him garnering the votes needed to make the Pro Bowl depending on how he does it.
The Jaguars will face yet another division foe this weekend, the Tennessee Titans. Here are three keys to victory against Tennessee.
The Jacksonville Jaguars will face yet another division foe this weekend: the Tennessee Titans. After getting beaten handily in back-to-back weeks, the Jaguars are hoping they can right the ship and get back on track.
The Titans team the Jags will face this Sunday is a completely different team than the one they faced Week 3 as they’re playing better football and currently have a 5-5 record. Does that mean the results will be the same though?
Here are three keys to victory against Tennessee:
Mandatory Credit: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports
Give Fournette the ball
Through the first nine games of the season, the Jaguars heavily leaned on running back Leonard Fournette. At one point and time, Fournette was the AFC’s leading rusher and scrimmage leader. The past two games, however, the team has seemingly forgotten how much of an impact Fournette has on this offense.
In his most recent games against the Texans and Colts, Fournette has been given just 19 carries and has only accumulated 63 yards and no touchdowns. The team has curiously gone away from their bread and butter: a strong run game. Coincidence or not, the Jaguars have also struggled mightily in those games. If the Jaguars wish to return to winning, they need to go back to their identity.
Unwanted in Miami after six years as a decent quarterback, Ryan Tannehill is rebooting his career remarkably with the Tennessee Titans.
The big story in the Chiefs’ Week 10 game against the Titans was supposed to be the return of Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes after the reigning NFL Most Valuable Player missed two games with a dislocated kneecap. Mahomes did his best upon his return, riddling Tennessee’s defense for 446 passing yards and three touchdown passes. But the quarterback on the winning side in this 35-32 contest was the other guy — Ryan Tannehill, starting his fourth straight game after the Titans’ coaching staff determined that Marcus Mariota wasn’t getting it done.
Tannehill didn’t blow anybody away with his statistics — he completed 13 of 19 passes for 181 yards, two touchdown passes and no interceptions, adding 37 rushing yards on three carries — but it was his 23-yard touchdown pass to receiver Adam Humphries with 29 seconds left that put the Titans ahead for good, aided as they were by a blocked Kansas City field goal attempt in the game’s final seconds.
Below, Humphries (No. 10) runs what starts out as a slot fade kind of thing, but turns back inside. Cornerback Rashad Fenton (No. 27) can’t keep up, and safety Tyrann Mathieu (No. 32) is leaning outside, so he can’t get there in time. Humphries has an easy play for the touchdown, and Tannehill does a nice job of not only hitting Humphries in stride, but using his head to drag Mathieu outside.
“They went 2-Man (coverage), and I knew if Ryan had time to throw it, I could wait on the seam, and it worked out for us,” Humphries said after the game.
“Well, I think that’s what it comes down to — the quarterback,” Tennessee head coach Mike Vrabel added of the touchdown pass, and Tannehill’s play overall — on the final drive, the Titans went 61 yards in 53 seconds, and Tannehill also scrambled for 18 yards and hit tight end Anthony Firkser for a 20-yard completion. “That’s what we see every week in this league, is those guys managing that drill, that two-minute drill, that tempo procedure. Getting guys where they want them to be. Making guys believe if they do their job, we’re going to score. If we protect, and if we run great routes, and that’s the quarterback’s job – they raise everybody’s level of performance.”
Running back Derrick Henry, who ran for 188 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries, was all too happy to talk about how his quarterback performed in that crucial drive when Henry didn’t touch the ball.
“I think he knew that we would go down there and score. Receivers get open, he’d get it to them, and that’s what we did. I had a lot of confidence that we would, you know. And we did, so I’m happy we were able to get the win.”
“He was big time,” Humphries concluded. “He made plays with his legs, and he was just being poised. He stepped up in the pocket and made great throws, and it was great to see that.”
Traded from the Dolphins to the Titans on March 15 as part of Miami’s roster purge, Tannehill had completed 62.8% of his passes for 20,434 yards, 123 touchdowns, and 75 interceptions over six seasons for his old team. He was never grossly inefficient, but he was generally inconsistent — especially in the pocket, where he had a tendency to bail and run and leave things up to random chance. He had five different offensive coordinators in six seasons with the Dolphins, and for a guy who started only two seasons at quarterback at Texas A&M (he was a receiver in 2008 and 2009 before switching to QB for his junior and senior seasons), that’s a lot of noise to process.
Tannehill had a $17 million cap hit as part of the $77 million contract extension he signed with the Dolphins in 2015. Negotiations between Miami and Tennessee, as well as Tannehill and his team, created a one-year, $7 million deal that could perk up to $12 million with incentives. The Dolphins paid Tannehill’s $5 million signing bonus as part of the renegotiation, which left Tennessee on the hook for a 2019 cap hit of $1.875 million. The Titans also gave up a 2019 seventh-round pick and a fourth-round pick in 2020. In return, Miami sent a 2019 sixth-round pick.
The deal has turned into one of the best bargains of the season, and it’s turned the Titans’ season around. Tennessee was 2-4 when Tannehill replaced Mariota; the Titans are now 5-5. Through the first half of the season, they ranked 23rd in Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted metrics; they’re third behind only Baltimore and Dallas since.
And in the red zone, the Titans have become an unstoppable force with their new quarterback. They’ve scored touchdowns on all 10 of their excursions into the red zone. Vrabel has credited Tannehill’s quick release and decisiveness, two things Mariota struggled with before.
“Ryan has an undying belief that we are going to score every time we get down there, and he should,” quarterbacks coach Pat O’Hara concluded. “Every quarterback should. We started working hard on our red zone efficiency in the spring. It’s paying dividends now.”
It’s not just what he’s doing in the red zone, though. For weeks 7 through 10 (the Titans had a Week 11 bye), Tannehill ranks fourth in the NFL in yards per attempt at 8.5, he’s tied for third with eight touchdown passes and he has just three interceptions. He ranks eighth in passing yards with 1,017, and he’s fifth in passer rating at 107.5.
Unwanted in Miami after six years as a decent starting quarterback, Ryan Tannehill is re-making his career remarkably with the Titans.
The big story in the Chiefs’ Week 10 game against the Titans was supposed to be the return of Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes after the reigning NFL Most Valuable Player missed two games with a dislocated kneecap. Mahomes did his best upon his return, riddling Tennessee’s defense for 446 passing yards and three touchdown passes. But the quarterback on the winning side in this 35-32 contest was the other guy — Ryan Tannehill, starting his fourth straight game after the Titans’ coaching staff determined that Marcus Mariota wasn’t getting it done.
Tannehill didn’t blow anybody away with his statistics — he completed 13 of 19 passes for 181 yards, two touchdown passes and no interceptions, adding 37 rushing yards on three carries — but it was his 23-yard touchdown pass to receiver Adam Humphries with 29 seconds left that put the Titans ahead for good, aided as they were by a blocked Kansas City field goal attempt in the game’s final seconds.
Below, Humphries (No. 10) runs what starts out as a slot fade kind of thing, but turns back inside. Cornerback Rashad Fenton (No. 27) can’t keep up, and safety Tyrann Mathieu (No. 32) is leaning outside, so he can’t get there in time. Humphries has an easy play for the touchdown, and Tannehill does a nice job of not only hitting Humphries in stride, but using his head to drag Mathieu outside.
“They went 2-Man (coverage), and I knew if Ryan had time to throw it, I could wait on the seam, and it worked out for us,” Humphries said after the game.
“Well, I think that’s what it comes down to — the quarterback,” Tennessee head coach Mike Vrabel added of the touchdown pass, and Tannehill’s play overall — on the final drive, the Titans went 61 yards in 53 seconds, and Tannehill also scrambled for 18 yards and hit tight end Anthony Firkser for a 20-yard completion. “That’s what we see every week in this league, is those guys managing that drill, that two-minute drill, that tempo procedure. Getting guys where they want them to be. Making guys believe if they do their job, we’re going to score. If we protect, and if we run great routes, and that’s the quarterback’s job – they raise everybody’s level of performance.”
Running back Derrick Henry, who ran for 188 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries, was all too happy to talk about how his quarterback performed in that crucial drive when Henry didn’t touch the ball.
“I think he knew that we would go down there and score. Receivers get open, he’d get it to them, and that’s what we did. I had a lot of confidence that we would, you know. And we did, so I’m happy we were able to get the win.”
“He was big time,” Humphries concluded. “He made plays with his legs, and he was just being poised. He stepped up in the pocket and made great throws, and it was great to see that.”
Traded from the Dolphins to the Titans on March 15 as part of Miami’s roster purge, Tannehill had completed 62.8% of his passes for 20,434 yards, 123 touchdowns, and 75 interceptions over six seasons for his old team. He was never grossly inefficient, but he was generally inconsistent — especially in the pocket, where he had a tendency to bail and run and leave things up to random chance. He had five different offensive coordinators in six seasons with the Dolphins, and for a guy who started only two seasons at quarterback at Texas A&M (he was a receiver in 2008 and 2009 before switching to QB for his junior and senior seasons), that’s a lot of noise to process.
Tannehill had a $17 million cap hit as part of the $77 million contract extension he signed with the Dolphins in 2015. Negotiations between Miami and Tennessee, as well as Tannehill and his team, created a one-year, $7 million deal that could perk up to $12 million with incentives. The Dolphins paid Tannehill’s $5 million signing bonus as part of the renegotiation, which left Tennessee on the hook for a 2019 cap hit of $1.875 million. The Titans also gave up a 2019 seventh-round pick and a fourth-round pick in 2020. In return, Miami sent a 2019 sixth-round pick.
The deal has turned into one of the best bargains of the season, and it’s turned the Titans’ season around. Tennessee was 2-4 when Tannehill replaced Mariota; the Titans are now 5-5. Through the first half of the season, they ranked 23rd in Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted metrics; they’re third behind only Baltimore and Dallas since.
And in the red zone, the Titans have become an unstoppable force with their new quarterback. They’ve scored touchdowns on all 10 of their excursions into the red zone. Vrabel has credited Tannehill’s quick release and decisiveness, two things Mariota struggled with before.
“Ryan has an undying belief that we are going to score every time we get down there, and he should,” quarterbacks coach Pat O’Hara concluded. “Every quarterback should. We started working hard on our red zone efficiency in the spring. It’s paying dividends now.”
It’s not just what he’s doing in the red zone, though. For weeks 7 through 10 (the Titans had a Week 11 bye), Tannehill ranks fourth in the NFL in yards per attempt at 8.5, he’s tied for third with eight touchdown passes and he has just three interceptions. He ranks eighth in passing yards with 1,017, and he’s fifth in passer rating at 107.5.
Two of the Jags’ top receivers have found themselves on the injury report after Week 11’s loss to the Colts.
The Jacksonville Jaguars had just one player on their final injury report for Week 11 but exited the game with some new injuries to deal with. Receivers DJ Chark and Chris Conley seemingly were amongst those players who sustained injuries during the Jags’ last game against the Indianapolis Colts as both surfaced on the team’s first injury report for Week 12 with hamstring injuries. Despite their injuries, however, both players were limited.
Joining Chark and Conley as limited participants were nickelback D.J. Hayden (hip/wrist), center Brandon Linder (shoulder) and defensive lineman Calais Campbell (back). All three were on Week 11’s injury report as well, however, Hayden was on the report with a different injury (neck/shoulder).
Offensive tackle Cam Robinson (knee) and safety Ronnie Harrison (eye) were full participants Wednesday after surfacing on the injury report with the same injuries they had on Week 11’s report.
The Jags’ lone non-participant who surfaced on Wednesday’s injury report was tight end Seth DeValve (oblique), who was the only player on Week 11’s final injury report and missed last Sunday’s game.
The Jags have only given Leonard Fournette 17 touches in to games and Doug Marrone knows that has to change.
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The Jacksonville Jaguars tough loss to the Indianapolis Colts Sunday still has a bad taste in the mouths of the fanbase as the team was outplayed in almost every way after the first quarter. Another issue a lot of fans had with the way things went was the lack of utilizing tailback Leonard Fournette, who only had eight carries for 23 yards.
In Monday’s conference call with Marrone, he took full responsibility for the loss and lack of Fournette being in the gameplan, stating that the Jags simply got in a situation where they were behind and it caused them to get away from the guy who is basically the offense’s engine.
“That probably comes back to my end, that I’ve got to do a good job,” Marrone said. “In the second and third quarter we weren’t able to get much going offensively as a group. Not just Leonard [Fournette], or the line, or anyone. We had back-to-back three-and-outs before the interception. I was looking back about my mindset on the game, and I can only explain what my though process is, and where I made a mistake, or where I make mistakes.”
Many fans voiced their frustrations towards offensive coordinator John DeFilippo after the game as he was on record for saying Fournette was the key to the offense this summer. However, in the last two games he’s gotten away from the young tailback, who only has 17 carries in the Jags’ last two games despite being the AFC’s top rusher just a few weeks ago.
With the Titans coming up and having some momentum on offense, Fournette would be perfect to slow down Ryan Tannehill and company, especially with how the Jags’ defense is playing. Additionally, Marrone’s seat will likely continue to get warmer, as will the rest of the staff’s, so it might be wise of them to get back to the basics and lean on their first-round selection of 2017.
The Jags added their second offensive lineman to the practice squad.
The Jacksonville Jaguars had an available spot their practice squad and filled it with the signing of offensive tackle Ryan Pope, putting them back at 10 players on the unit. Per Arron Wilson, the move came after the Jags worked Pope out this week with two other offensive tackles in Tyler Jones and Marcus Applefield.
Jaguars worked out offensive tackles Tyler Jones, Marcus Applefield, Ryan Pope
Pope, 22, signed with the Detroit Lions as an undrafted rookie free agent in May and later found himself with the San Fransisco 49ers in September. He played collegiately at San Diego State University where he participated in 38 games and had 24 starts with the Aztecs. During his senior campaign in 2018, he started all 13 games for San Diego State and earned Second-Team All-Mountain West honors in the process.
He and Blake Hance are currently the only two offensive lineman on the Jags’ practice squad. If Pope sees the field in all probability it will be next preseason as the Jags will likely look to develop him this season.
The Jags should expect a scrappy Titans team Week 12 after they will be coming off their bye with momentum from their win against the Chiefs.
While their fanbase is still recovering from Sunday’s deflating loss to the Indianapolis Colts, the Jacksonville Jaguars must now let it be nothing more than a moment in the past. Up next for them is a team who may be even more desperate than the Colts were in the Tennessee Titans, who look to be a better team than they were Week 3 when the Jags beat them on “Thursday Night Football.”
All of that said, here are three things to know as the Jags and Titans gear up for their second meeting of 2019:
Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
The Titans have a lot to play for with the No. 9 seed in the AFC
The Titans will come into Sunday’s game with plenty to play for — and quite frankly — more than the Jags. As of Tuesday, they have the ninth seed in the AFC playoff picture with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders, Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills in their way for a wild-card slot.
The Jags took another drop in USA Today’s power rankings after Week 11’s loss to the Colts, however, the fall was minimal.
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The Jacksonville Jaguars were pummeled by the Indianapolis Colts this past Sunday and their playoff chances declined drastically as a result. They also took a small slide down USA TODAY’s power rankings, coming in at the No. 22 spot after previously being ranked No. 20.
22. Jaguars (20): Focus has been on quarterback transition, but what about a defense burned for nearly 60 points and 800 yards over its past two appearances?
Our comrade Nate Davis is right, while Nick Foles’ day was unimpressive outside of the first quarter Sunday, the Jags’ defense gave up an embarrassing total of 264 rushing yards on the day. Colts running back Marlon Mack had a solid day, rushing fo 109 yards and a touchdown before sustaining a hand injury and having to leave the game. To make matters worse, the Colts’ No. 2 tailback, Johnathan Williams, had an even better day, accumulating a career-high of 116 yards on 13 carries.
The Jags’ struggles on defense Sunday weren’t exactly surprising because they’ve been one of the worse teams in football when it comes to stopping the run under Todd Wash in 2019. Previously, they were gashed by the Carolina Panthers and the Houston Texans in London.
As for Foles, he was 33-of-47 for just under 300 yards and a pick in his return. He had some solid moments to open the game but was clearly pressing afterward. He had several moments where he was throwing in double coverage but thankfully the Colts weren’t able to cash in on those opportunities. He’ll need to have a better day Sunday as the Titans have been very opportunistic against the Jags in the past.
The Jags came into Week 12 listed as underdogs for the second consecutive week after their bye.
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Just as they did Week 11, the Jacksonville Jaguars will enter Week 12 as underdogs on the road against the Tennessee Titans. They also will be an underdog by 3.5-points for the second consecutive week, per BetMGM.
The Titans will be coming off their bye week with a 5-5 record, the No. 3 spot in the division and No. 9 seed in the playoff race. Prior to that, they had a huge win against the Kansas City Chiefs Week 10, which could give them the necessary momentum they need to make the playoffs heading forward.
The Jags, on the other hand, had a much more different experience in their last game and were defeated handily by the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 33-13. Sunday marked the return of veteran quarterback Nick Foles, who looked healthy but didn’t have an eventful day outside of the first quarter. He’ll be looking to have a better day against a Titans defense that is ranked No. 22 against the pass and No. 14 against the rush.
The total for Sunday’s game is currently set at 41.5 points. The money line is set at +140 for the Jags, which means a wager of $100 on them would pay out $140.
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