The Jacksonville Jaguars offense is mostly to blame for the team’s embarrassing 13-6 loss to the previously winless Houston Texans, but no play was more costly in the defeat than Travon Walker’s unnecessary roughness penalty.
After backing Houston into a third-and-20 situation, Walker jumped offsides and then compounded the issue by slinging Texans quarterback Davis Mills down on a dead play.
I think this is the dumbest penalty I've ever seen given the situation and the end result pic.twitter.com/9LMIepGXu1
— CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) October 9, 2022
After the game, Jaguars linebacker and defensive team captain Foye Oluokun was asked what kind of guidance veterans can give the rookie about making such a disastrous error.
“He knows what he did and he’s a good kid,” Oluokun told reporters, via Mia O’Brien of 1010XL. “There’s nothing to harp on. He’s a smart kid, he knows what he did, I’m not going to beat him down for it. We’re all holding each other accountable.
“I’m not going to be mad at him for playing hard. I don’t want to take that edge off of him. Just play smarter in that situation. My first year I threw somebody down after the whistle, [now] I just know not to do that. You learn from those mistakes going forward.”
Walker told reporters he was “very disappointed” in himself when he saw the flags, but also insisted that he didn’t know the play was dead and he was “just playing ball.”