Jacksonville showed some signs of improvement in its home opener against the Denver Broncos on Saturday, but the team was far too inconsistent on both sides of the ball to stake a real challenge late in the game. The Jaguars lost 23-13, and now they welcome an Arizona Cardinals team to town that has been one of the league’s most prolific offenses through two games.
The road doesn’t get any easier with the Jaguars in the games to come, and if they want to avoid yet another early pick, they’ll need to be a lot better moving forward. Here’s what the team’s snap counts from Week 2 can tell us.
Offense
Analysis
- The starting offensive line group played the entire game, aside from A.J. Cann, who left with a hamstring injury and didn’t return. He struggled a lot in Week 1, and he was replaced by backup guard Ben Bartch, who played on 20 snaps.
- Though James Robinson was on the field for six fewer snaps than he saw last week, that was due to fewer offensive plays from Jacksonville. He saw the bulk of the carries, while Carlos Hyde was only on the field for 14 snaps and saw two carries.
- Jacksonville hasn’t really gone to its receiver depth chart much. Marvin Jones Jr., Laviska Shenault Jr., and D.J. Chark Jr. all played on at least 80% of snaps, and Laquon Treadwell, who was elevated from the practice squad this week, saw the most reps of any backup receiver with nine, compared to seven from Tyron Johnson and four from Jamal Agnew.
- James O’Shaughnessy only played on three offensive snaps before leaving the game with an injury. In his place, Chris Manhertz saw some time, but the bulk of the reps went to rookie Luke Farrell, who made one catch for six yards on two targets.
Defense
Analysis
- Jihad Ward continues to push K’Lavon Chaisson for the starting edge rusher job opposite Josh Allen. Ward didn’t start on Sunday, but he saw four more reps than Chaisson. Neither made much of a strong claim for the job, as Chaisson totaled three tackles and Ward totaled two, but Ward has looked a bit better between the preseason and the first two weeks.
- Jacksonville is largely going rotational for its interior defensive line, and several of those guys have stood out, particularly Dawuane Smoot, who was PFF’s highest-graded Jaguar on Sunday, and Adam Gotsis, who had a sack against Denver.
- Outside of Myles Jack, who played all 69 defensive snaps, the Jags are largely opting to rotate at the other inside linebacker spot. Damien Wilson continues to start, but he only saw 55% of reps. Shaquille Quarterman saw 29% of the snaps, and he notched four tackles (one for loss).
- With C.J. Henderson exiting the game with an injury, rookie Tyson Campbell saw a lot more reps in Week 2. He was on the field for 80% of his snaps between his usual nickel role and covering for Henderson on the outside, and he had some nice moments including a pass breakup in the end zone. Chris Claybrooks also saw some time in Henderson’s absence.
- While many Jaguars fans want to see Andre Cisco get reps at free safety, starter Andrew Wingard was on the field for an even greater share of the reps than he was last week. His play somewhat justified that, as he notched one of Jacksonville’s three sacks and showed some other signs of improvement. Still, the rookie Cisco is almost certainly the long-term solution at the position.