Category: Todd Wash

Todd Wash joining the Lions staff as a DL coach

It appears that the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 2021 coaching staff will mostly consist of new faces as Urban Meyer was given their head coaching job last month. Of the 2020 staff, defensive coordinator Todd Wash was atop the list of coaches who weren’t …

It appears that the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 2021 coaching staff will mostly consist of new faces as Urban Meyer was given their head coaching job last month. Of the 2020 staff, defensive coordinator Todd Wash was atop the list of coaches who weren’t expected to return as the Jags’ defense was one of the worst (No. 31) in the league last season.

However, despite the Jags’ struggles, Wash has found a new opportunity and he’ll now be joining Dan Campbell’s staff as a defensive line coach with the Detroit Lions. As a result, he’ll serve under former Jags defensive back Aaron Glenn, who was named the Lions’ defensive coordinator last month.

Wash was the Jags’ defensive coordinator from 2016-20. Prior, he was their defensive line coach from 2013-15. Wash was brought into the Jags’ organization by former head coach Gus Bradley, who had worked with Wash during his time with North Dakota State, the Tampa Bay Bucs, and Seattle Seahawks.

Under his new role, Wash will be working with notables like Danny Shelton and Trey Flowers in Detroit. He’ll also be tasked with helping Glenn improve the Lions defense which finished dead last in the NFL in terms of overall defense allowing a 419.8 yard per game average.

Todd Wash, 2 defensive assistants to miss game vs. Browns due to COVID-19 protocols

The Jags will be short a few members of their coaching staff due to the NFL’s COVID-19 protocol.

Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Marrone provided an update on his defensive staff Wednesday and at least three members will be out Sunday. Among them will be defensive coordinator Todd Wash though the others weren’t specified.

This news comes after the Jags’ whole defensive staff had to work remotely from their homes Tuesday after there was a positive test amongst the group, according to NFL insider Mike Garafolo. After using the NFL’s contact tracing method, the team determined what assistants had been within a certain radius of each other. The situation also comes after Jags defensive line coach Jason Rebrovich missed Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers due to the NFL’s COVID-19 protocol.

As a result of the Jags’ staff situation, special teams assistant Mike Mallory will coach the defense and secondary coach Joe Danna will call the plays Sunday against the Cleveland Browns.

The Jags will enter Week 12 will a big task on their hands. In addition to being without three coaches, they will also be placing various players on inured reserve in defensive end Josh Allen, safety Daniel Thomas, and nickelback D.J. Hayden (ending his season). That’s certainly not good with the Browns’ No. 3 rushing attack coming into town Sunday.

 

Jaguars vs. Steelers: 3 keys to a Jacksonville victory

The Steelers are sporadic against the run, which is why James Robinson may give the Jags their best chance for a win.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will be the latest team to try and end the Pittsburgh Steelers’ undefeated dreams this afternoon when the two teams face off at TIAA Bank Field. The fortunes of these two franchises could hardly be further apart in 2020 as both are on opposite ends of the NFL in terms success.

The Jaguars come into this one hoping to avoid their ninth-straight defeat (and owner Shad Khan’s 100th loss in less than a decade) whilst the Steelers are looking to make it a perfect 10-from-10 to start the season.

Despite the optics, things aren’t quite as desperate as they seem for Jacksonville. In the last two matchups, they’ve lost by six points or less and were in both games well into the fourth quarter. That includes a nail-biting loss to the 7-2 Green Bay Packers last weekend.

Victory isn’t out of the question today as the Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback carousel nearly bested Pittsburgh last week, so rookie Jake Luton should be going into this game confident that a win is not off the table. Of course, luck will have to be on the Jaguars side, but here are three keys to a possible Jaguars upset:

James Robinson is really good, folks

Not only is James Robinson a sensational talent, the Steelers’ pass-rush is better. The best thing the Jaguars can do is give the ball to Robinson and watch him work. The fewer dropbacks for Luton the better.

Most would anticipate that Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is going to set his team up to make the rookie quarterback have to beat him, but if the Jaguars’ offensive line can successfully pave lanes, Jacksonville’s chances are better. If they do their part, Robinson is going to be the one to benefit from it as the Jags are without Chris Thompson and Laviska Shenault Jr. this week.

While that’s a lot of pressure, it seems like this young man has the nerves for it. That’s just another reason to put the game in his hands and see if he can recreate the success fans witness greats like Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew have against Pittsburgh.

Stop the explosive plays on defense

As previously mentioned, the Jags’ last two losses were by six points or less, but a key to those losses are the fact that they’ve given up a touchdown of 70-yards or more in both individual games. Things have improved defensively coming out of the bye week, but Todd Wash simply must find a way to limit the explosive plays from Pittsburgh’s offense.

This was always going to be a difficult task as the Steelers’ offense boasts human highlight reels Chase Claypool and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Simply put, both are more than capable of taking the tops off opposing defenses, or turning catches upfield and making blockbuster plays.

Things are going to be that much harder this week as the Jaguars will go into this game without their two best defensive backs. Rookie C.J. Henderson has been placed on injured reserve with a groin problem, whilst surprise-star Sidney Jones IV was ruled inactive for the game. Not having both certainly spells trouble for the Jags’ passing defense, which was already the league’s third-worst group.

Win the turnover battle

Only two times this season have the Jaguars won the turnover battle in 2020. The first game in which they did it was Week 1 against the Colts in their only win and the second instance was last week against the Packers. That, of course, was the key to the Jags being in the game late against Aaron Rodgers and company.

Turnovers are always a crucial part of any football game, but rarely do a team’s turnovers share such a direct resemblance to their record. Jacksonville has lost every game this season in which they’ve turned the ball over in 2020. So given Pittsburgh’s talent on both sides of the ball, the Jaguars simply cannot afford to cough up possession.

On the other side of the ball, Wash will have his hands full. He’ll be looking to become the first defensive coordinator in three weeks to get the Steelers’ offense to commit a turnover. If he can achieve the feat, it could help tremendously if the game is a close one.

Doug Marrone on Todd Wash’s job security: He’s safe as long as I’m the head coach

The Jacksonville Jaguars lost their fifth-straight game Sunday courtesy of the Detroit Lions. The team didn’t look all that great overall, but the defense once again had issues stopping the offense of the opposition, allowing yet another 400-plus …

The Jacksonville Jaguars lost their fifth-straight game Sunday courtesy of the Detroit Lions. The team didn’t look all that great overall, but the defense once again had issues stopping the offense of the opposition, allowing yet another 400-plus yard day.

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and company had no issues moving the ball down the field whether it was on the ground or through the air, and it’s caused cries for Todd Wash to be gone to intensify.

Of course, after Sunday’s poor showing the media asked Doug Marrone the question that was on everyone’s mind, but his reply was one that probably won’t sit well with many.

“As long as I’m here and I’m the head coach, yes, he’s safe […] I think when you go talk about changes and things of that nature I think if you have good options to go to but right now I don’t see any options. We’ve just got to keep working to get these guys better and be able to make some plays and that’s what’s hurting us. It’s not a lack of not trying to changing things, which we have been,” Marrone said to the media after Sunday’s loss to the Lions.

The Lions were able to put up 223 yards through the air. Receiver Kenny Golladay led the way for Detroit, and while he didn’t snag a touchdown or get a lot of receptions, he proved to be effective with 105 yards and a 26.3 receiving average on the day.

For the rest of the Lions receivers, the wealth was distributed evenly, however, veterans Danny Amendola and Adrian Peterson averaged rates of 15.5 and 18, respectively. That gave the Lions three receivers with averages over 15.4.

As for the Jags’ rush defense, they struggled containing rookie DeAndre Swift. While he didn’t even hit 15 carries, he was effective with 116 yards and two touchdowns. That included a long rush for 54 yards.

Another issue for the Jags’ defense was getting off the field as the Lions had a time of possession of 35:57 to the Jags’ 24:03. When combining all of the aforementioned flaws with those of the offense, the results weren’t good.

With owner Shad Khan being as patient as he has been, it appears Marrone could make it to the end of the season. That would also mean Wash could make it through the season, which means fans may want to prepare for a long year.

Doug Marrone discusses Jags’ struggles against the pass vs. Dolphins

Doug Marrone believes the Jags issues against the pass boils down to fundamentals, something they haven’t shown since Week 1 vs. Indy.

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ defense has mostly struggled against the pass all year and that once again was the case Thursday against the Miami Dolphins. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was able to complete 11 consecutive passes against the unit in the first half and the second half was pretty solid as well.

Such a showing from a Dolphins roster who many feel belongs somewhere near the bottom of the league has caused many questions for the Jags and it was one of the many key topics brought up to Doug Marrone Friday. After going over the film, Marrone expressed that he thought a lot of the Jags’ issues against the pass were technique related as the defensive backs allowed a lot of catches in the range of 12 yards.

“I think when you look at it, a lot of the passes are not really getting behind us, from a standpoint of over the top throws,” Marrone said to the media. “Most of these throws are in this under 12 or 13-yard radius, so I think it’s a combination of we have to do a couple things better.”

“I feel comfortable because they’re more technique, fundamental things that we need to do to disrupt the passing game and try to do a better job there, so I see it as that. I think last night we pressured quite a bit, but you could see at times when max protection comes into play, now all of a sudden, and you’re not getting to the quarterback, that’s a long time.”

These statements are some that Todd Wash can’t help but hear loud and clear and it appears the Jags will be stressing fundamentals in practice a lot, especially to the defensive backs.

“We’re in position, but we haven’t defended many balls,” Marrone added. “We’ve got to get our hands on more balls. In the first game, we did. In the last two, we haven’t at all. Those are the things we’re trying to improve upon.”

When evaluating the defensive backs, even the player who has been a star for the Jags’ secondary, CJ Henderson, had a rough night, allowing five targets for 62 yards against the Dolphins. He also had a mental lapse early in the game where he allowed receiver Jakeem Grant to catch a pass on him without tagging him down, which allowed Grant to get up a run for extra yardage.

Meanwhile, the Jags’ other cornerback, Tre Herndon, has had a lackluster showing to open the season. As a result, many fans have been expressing their hope to see Sidney Jones on the field in his place soon.

There have also been frequent changes at safety as Jarrod Wilson had to go on injured reserve Week 1. Andrew Wingard was inserted in his place, but it appears he may be suited more to be a special teams player than consistent starter at safety. On top of that, he exited Week 3’s game with a core injury in the second quarter, causing the staff to move to their third option at safety Brandon Watson.

While Marrone did say Wingard would return Monday, the safety play might not improve significantly based off what we’ve seen from Wingard. Still, Marrone clearly wants them to put up identical results to what fans witnessed Week 1 against the Indianapolis Colts. During that game the Jags were able to acquire two picks and five pass breakups (three of which were from Henderson).

Up next for the Jags’ defense will be first overall pick Joe Burrow and receivers A.J. Green, Tyler Boyd, and John Ross III. While many will categorize the Cincinnati Bengals as a bottom tier roster the fact of the matter is they’ve been extremely competitive in all their games. That said, it could be another long day for the Jags next Sunday, and hopefully, we see the defense clear up things fundamentally.

Listen to the latest from Jags Wire’s own James Johnson and Phil Smith on their podcast “Bleav in the Jags.” Subscribe via Apple Podcasts and check out our archived episodes via Bleav Podcasts.

Listen: Jags Wire discusses defense heading into Week 2 with ESPN’s Turron Davenport

The Jags’ defense had some standout moments against the Colts Week 1. James Johnson chatted with Turron Davenport and previewed the unit.

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ defense may have allowed 445 total yards against the Indianapolis Colts Sunday, but there were moments where they came up big. Among those who made crucial plays were Abry Jones, Myles Jack, and rookie cornerback CJ Henderson, who was nominated for the Pepsi’s Zero Sugar Rookie of the Week Award.

Heading into Week 2 they will need an even better performance, however, and especially will need to slow the run game down with Derrick Henry lining up behind the quarterback. To discuss the state of the Jags’ defense heading into Week 2, I joined ESPN 102.5 The Game of Nashville for a chat with Titans beat writer Turron Davenport via the “Talking with TD Show.”

Some specific players we discussed at included Jack, Henderson, Jones, DaVon Hamilton, Josh Allen and K’Lavon Chaisson to name a few. To listen to the full clip, just hit play below.

Joe Schobert expecting a lot of playmaking opportunities in Todd Wash’s defense

Joe Schobert has been great for the Jags during camp and feels the Jags’ defense offers playmaking opportunities for him and the linebackers.

When looking at the defensive side of the ball for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Joe Schobert has definitely been a standout in training camp. Now, he’s looking to transfer that to the regular season and believes Todd Wash’s scheme will allow it.

“I like [Defensive Coordinator] Coach [Todd] Wash’s scheme, obviously just from a first couple of weeks in it, with not having an offseason,” said Schobert. “But, I just feel like the way that me and Myles [Jack] are able to play as linebackers [and] the way the scheme is set up, there’s going to be a lot of opportunities for us to run around the field, make a lot of plays on the ball, and have a good time doing it.”

Schobert is a player who many media members have praised for always being around the ball, or making a play. That’s exactly what the Jags were going for at the MIKE linebacker position as Myles Jack struggled there last season and was out of place. Now that Schobert has joined the team, however, Jack has been moved to his natural position at weak-side linebacker.

It appears Schobert has especially been active in pass coverage so far as he’s picked off starting quarterback Gardner Minshew II twice. Those instances not only showed the media what Schobert could do in coverage, but it’s also provided a few teaching moments for Minshew.

“A few times he’ll come up, not even when he does turnovers, just after practice in general,” Schobert said when asked if Minshew asks him about the turnovers he’s committed in practice. “If there’s a look that we’re giving him and he doesn’t quite understand what we’re looking for, he’ll come up and ask what our thought process was in that certain look versus what they were doing. So, he’s definitely been eager to learn in those situations and doesn’t take [it] as a negative. He tries to learn from it and turn it into a positive, so it’s been good to see.”

While some may be alarmed when hearing the word “interception” connected to a starting quarterback, it’s worth noting that it hasn’t been at an alarming rate. It’s also nice to know he’s communicating with one of the defense’s most experienced players to correct his mistakes.

As for Schobert, the focus will be to get the Jags defense ready for the Indianapolis Colts Week 1. With Philip Rivers coming into town and the Jags having a young defensive group, it will be a huge task on Schobert’s shoulders, but one that he’s proven to be fit for so far.

Todd Wash on C.J. Henderson, K’Lavon Chaisson: We anticipate them being impactful Week 1

After a rough defensive season last year, Todd Wash is looking for first rounders K’Lavon Chaisson and C.J. Henderson to make early impacts.

Not only did the Jacksonville Jaguars use most of their 12 draft picks on defense this April, but they also used both of their first round selections on defensive players. Of course, those players were Florida cornerback C.J. Henderson and Louisiana State pass-rusher K’Lavon Chaisson.

With the team having a tremendous amount of turnover on defense, the staff and team will need big contributions out of both in 2020. That’s especially the case for defensive coordinator Todd Wash, who is coming off a season where the Jags’ defense was ranked 24th in yards allowed per game with an average of 375.4.

“We want both of them to be plugged in in the first game and playing the majority of the reps,” Wash told the media last week. “Obviously, this is a unique offseason that we had. We know they have the physical skill to play at this level with both of them being drafted in the first round. We anticipate both of them to be solid, impact players for us Week 1. We’re going to figure lot more of that once we get on grass in training camp, but both of them physically have the abilities to be impact players early in their career.”

Wash is right, the Jags will need both rookies to be key contributors in 2020, much like their first picks of 2019 were in Josh Allen and Jawaan Taylor. Essentially, Henderson will be taking the place of traded cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey or A.J. Bouye, while Chaisson could be replacing the presence of disgruntled pass-rusher Yannick Ngakoue. However, there could be some growing pains when considering the NFL is going through an irregular offseason that eliminated organized team activities and minicamp.

Additionally, there may not be a preseason period for the Jags, and if it is, it could be shortened. Simply put, this means both rookies will be getting a crash learning course.

The good thing is the Jags’ schedule isn’t as strong during the first half as it is in the second half, with games against teams like the Miami Dolphins, Detroit Lions, and Cincinnati Bengals scheduled early. That should help ease Henderson and Chaisson into things before the going gets significantly tougher during the second half.

Todd Wash, Doug Marrone pump the brakes on speculation about Jags moving to a 3-4

With the Jacksonville Jaguars using seven of their 12 draft picks on defense, it certainly looked like the unit could predominately use 3-4 looks and that’s the vibe many members of the media felt after talking to the staff in April. After selecting …

With the Jacksonville Jaguars using seven of their 12 draft picks on defense, it certainly looked like the unit could predominately use 3-4 looks and that’s the vibe many members of the media felt after talking to the staff in April. After selecting players like pass rusher K’Lavon Chaisson and nose tackle DaVon Hamilton, questions began to pour in about a 3-4 defense, and both Doug Marrone and Dave Caldwell spoke of it in some shape.

However, after a recent Zoom call between the media and Marrone, and a separate one with defensive coordinator Todd Wash, it appears there may not be that drastic of a change in scheme in 2020.

“We know systematically we’re based off a four down linemen scheme, but we wanted to be able to increase our multiplicity and our front mechanics, meaning that there is a lot of different things that you can do on the back end,” Marrone said to the media.

“Coverage-wise there is a lot of disguising and a lot of things we can do to create that moment of indecision. Whether we’re pressing and bailing or pressing and going into cover two, there’s a lot of things you can do and it’s so much easier to be multiple in your coverage aspect.”

Not too soon after, Wash basically echoed what Marrone said about being based off a four-man front. He added that the reason for that was because he felt the team wasn’t built for two-gapping principles, which is what a 3-4 is typically based off. Instead, he stated that the Jags were going to be a one-gap penetrating front as we’ve seen since he’s been the coordinator.

“We’re not built to be a two-gap team; we’re still going to be one-gap, single-high,” Wash said on the Zoom call. “It’s just guys playing different spots, changing some alignment. We have not installed a different front from what we’ve had in our system the past two years. Leverages and alignments are going to be a little different within our scheme.

“You’re going to see the outside linebacker on the line of scrimmage more because that’s the skill set of the guys we have. Everybody’s saying a 3-4, but if you look at our system the last two years, we’ve had three different front families based out of the 3-4, but nobody considered us a 3-4.”

This also prompted the media to ask Wash if the hype about the Jags moving to a 3-4 was overblown. He simply replied, “That would be a correct statement.”

As for being more multiple, fans should look back at their season finale in 2019 against the Indianapolis Colts. They won that game by a score of 38-20 and the Jags showcased multiple alignments. One front that fans will likely see more of from 2019 is their use of a 50 front where the strong-side linebacker plays on the line of scrimmage (as Marrone mentioned during the draft). This, of course, will be a possibility thanks to the additions of Cassius Marsh and Chaisson this offseason.

In a nutshell, this all means the Jags won’t be drastically different from last season defensively, but will utilize more alignments as they did against Indy. Hopefully for Wash’s sake it works, as the Jags can’t afford to struggle defensively as they did in 2019, because if he doesn’t, his job and Marrone’s could be lost when 2021 arrives.

Doug Marrone discusses sticking with Todd Wash as defensive coordinator

When the season ended, fans of the Jacksonville Jaguars were almost certain that defensive coordinator Todd Wash would be fired but here we are in late January and that isn’t the case. It became obvious that Wash would remain with the staff after …

When the season ended, fans of the Jacksonville Jaguars were almost certain that defensive coordinator Todd Wash would be fired but here we are in late January and that isn’t the case. It became obvious that Wash would remain with the staff after John DeFilippo was fired as offensive coordinator and no other coaching moves were made aside from the addition of Jay Gruden.

During last week’s Senior Bowl, the Jaguars’ senior editor John Oehser asked Doug Marrone about the decision to stick with Wash and the third-year head coach said he had multiple reasons to keep Wash onboard.

One big reason was the extensive time they’ve worked together and another was the success the Jags had early in Wash’s time as defensive coordinator.

“I’ve been with Wash for five years,” Marrone said. “I got to watch him very closely when I was the O-Line coach and he was the D-Line coach and then three years as a coordinator. When you look at the body of work, what we’ve done defensively over the course of time, you’re talking about a Top 10 defense. There have been a lot of changes on defense. We have changed to try to put our players in better position. I think in the end it’s going to help us and we’re going to be back to the level of defense we want to play at. And that’s why I made the choice with what’s best for the team.”

During Marrone’s first year (2017) the Jags’ defense put up historic numbers and were arguably the best in the league. They finished first in several categories like forced fumbles (17), passing yards allowed a game (169.9), passer rating (68.5) and defensive touchdowns (seven). Of course, they also developed the moniker “Sacksonville” after finishing second in the league in sacks with 55.

In 2018, the unit wasn’t nearly as elite but respectable nonetheless. They particularly were good against the pass, finishing second in the category and allowing an average of 194.6.

However, it seems the problem most fans have with Wash is his lack of ability to adapt during games. There are also questions as to how good of a defensive teacher he is because he hasn’t shown the ability to get the best out of players who aren’t elite. In other words, fans believe he’s average at best when he doesn’t have multiple blue-chip talents on his unit.

A common theme that has been stressed at the Jags’ facility is playing to the player’s strengths. When looking at Wash’s unit, the most notable change could be moving Myles Jack to outside linebacker amongst others. In his first year as the team’s full-time MIKE linebacker, he struggled mightily and if the Jags are sincere about adapting to their players, putting Jack back on the outside would speak volumes.

If the Jags could put Jack back at the weakside linebacker spot where he looked the best in his career, make a few other defensive tweaks, and Wash can become a better in-game strategist, Marrone’s decision could be a wise one. However, if there aren’t significant changes and improvements made defensively, he could unfortunately end up having to part ways with Wash before the season ends.