The Jacksonville Jaguars defense is expected to be a force to be reckoned with this year. Their starting inside linebacker Foyesade Oluokun is particularly bullish on his unit’s chance at making big waves in the NFL in 2022 and told the media about his optimism on Monday during a team press conference.
Asked what the hallmark of the team’s defense would be this season, Oluokun went in-depth on what he and his teammates see as their path to helping their offense win football games.
“As Coach Caldwell likes to say, we’re going to stop the run first,” Oluokun told reporters. “That’s our first and foremost thing, then in the pass game we’re going to try to create turnovers with the DBs and our athletic linebackers, kind of mix up the coverages and try to confuse quarterbacks with our pass rush. If we can get our hands on footballs and stuff, making plays and being able to get the ball back to our offense.”
The challenge of revamping the Jaguars’ reputation and culture will be a defining part of the defense’s role this season, and with some luck, the leadership they have on their side of the ball could buoy the team as a whole. With the influx of veteran talent and intriguing defensive prospects that Jacksonville managed to bring in over the course of the offseason, internal expectations are high, while the league at large is mostly ambivalent to the Jaguars’ hopes of making the playoffs in 2022.
Jacksonville’s defense is in it to turn some heads, and that will start with stingy play in Week 1 against the Washington Commanders, and a sustained effort to improve their game in every matchup they face. The Jaguars’ rebuild will only grow more difficult with every passing week if the team’s better half doesn’t live up to their potential this year.