Tag: Brandon McManus

Jaguars bring in kicker Matthew Wright for tryout

The Jaguars brought in a familiar face for a tryout after Brandon McManus missed five of his last six field goals.

The Jacksonville Jaguars brought in kicker Matthew Wright for a tryout Tuesday, according to the NFL’s transactions wire.

Wright, 27, spent the 2021 season with the Jaguars, making 21 of his 24 field goal attempts and 13 of his 15 extra point tries. That included 54- and 53-yard field goals in the last four minutes of a game against the Miami Dolphins to end Jacksonville’s 20-game losing streak.

The kicker spent time with the Steelers and Lions prior to joining the Jaguars and has been on six different rosters since he was cut by the team in May 2022.

Wright hasn’t played in a game this season, but finished the 2022 season 15 of 18 on field goals and 15 of 15 on extra points in stints with the Kansas City Chiefs and Steelers.

Earlier this year, the Jaguars parted with kicker Riley Patterson after acquiring former Denver Broncos kicker Brandon McManus. After hitting 23 of his first 25 field goals this season, McManus has missed five of his last six.

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Studs and duds in Jaguars’ 23-7 loss vs. Ravens

Which Jaguars players stood out most to you Sunday night?

The Jacksonville Jaguars fell to 8-6 on Sunday night when the Baltimore Ravens handed them a third consecutive loss.

It was an all too familiar formula that doomed the Jaguars in the 23-7 loss. Despite finding 333 yards of offense, Jacksonville’s only points came on one 65-yard touchdown.

The Jaguars drove inside the Ravens’ 40-yard line five times and the red zone three times, but somehow finished with zero points to show for it. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence fumbled away one of those possessions, made a crucial error that ran out the clock on another, and turned the ball over on downs late in the fourth quarter. The other two were missed field goals.

Jacksonville had its opportunities and simply didn’t come nearly close enough to capitalizing on them. Here are the players who struggled most Sunday as well as those who stood out in the losing effort:

7 Jaguars are top 10 at their position in early Pro Bowl voting

Which Jaguars players are you hoping to see in the 2024 Pro Bowl Games?

After just over a week of Pro Bowl Games voting, there are seven Jacksonville Jaguars players in the top 10 at their position.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweeted the full list of voting leaders as of noon Tuesday, eight days after the polling opened Monday, Nov. 27. Voting will continue until Dec. 25.

While there are seven Jaguars in the mix with just under three weeks left, the public vote counts for just a portion of the eventual tally. The votes of fans, players, and coaches each count for a third to determine the final rosters.

Here are the seven who are currently top 10 vote-getters:

Bengals, Jaguars head to overtime as teams trade field goals in 4th quarter.

The Bengals and Jaguars went to overtime as each team kicked a field goal late in the fourth quarter

Evan McPherson wasn’t a good judge of his 54-yard field-goal attempt. The Cincinnati Bengals have to be glad for that.

McPherson’s kick was good but the reaction of the Bengals’ kicker was not.

The Jaguars came down the field and got a 40-yard field goal from Brandon McManus to tie the game at 31 and send it to OT.

Broncos kicker Lutz named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month

Congrats to Broncos kicker Wil Lutz for being named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Month!

Denver Broncos kicker Wil Lutz was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for November on Thursday.

In the month of November, Lutz was clutch, as the Broncos won two games by three points or less. Lutz finished the month 11-of-11 on field goals, and 3-of-4 on extra points.

After their bye week, the Broncos built on their then-two-game win streak with a walk-off field goal against the Buffalo Bills. If Buffalo didn’t have too many men on the field, Lutz may not have won this award this month. Initially, Lutz missed a 41-yard field goal, but a Bills penalty moved the ball five yards forward, and Lutz drilled the make-up kick.

Lutz becomes the Denver first player to win a Special Teams Player of the Month award since kicker Brandon McManus won the award as a Bronco in 2015.

Ironically, Lutz, who replaced McManus as the Broncos’ kicker at the beginning of the year, succeeds McManus as the AFC Special Team Player of the Month. Lutz hopes to continue his hot leg against the Houston Texans this week.

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Brandon McManus named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month

Brandon McManus made all 12 of his field goals, including four from 50+ during a perfect October.

Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Brandon McManus earned AFC Special Teams Player of the Month honors for October, the NFL announced Thursday.

McManus, 32, finished the month a perfect 12-for-12 on field goals and 12-for-12 on extra points. The miss-free October included plenty of tough kicks too with McManus making four field goals from at least 50 yards. He also earned AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors after making three field goals against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 4.

The Jaguars signed McManus in May after he was surprisingly released by the Denver Broncos. When he became a free agent, McManus gave the Jaguars a call to see if they’d be interested in his services despite already having Riley Patterson on the roster. Jacksonville made the swap and it has paid dividends with McManus rarely missing in his first eight games with the team.

McManus is only the third Jaguars player to ever earn AFC Special Teams Player of the Month honors along with return specialist Jamal Agnew (September 2021) and punter Chris Hanson (September 2005). He’s the first Jaguars kicker to ever win the award.

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Von Miller reacts to Broncos snapping losing streak to Chiefs

Von Miller still loves the Broncos, and we still love Von Miller.

The Denver Broncos shocked the NFL world on Sunday when they defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 24-9, snapping a 16-game losing streak to their division rival that dated back to 2016.

After that upset win, former Bronco and current Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Brandon McManus took to Twitter/X to congratulate safety Justin Simmons, who essentially sealed Sunday’s win with an interception in the fourth quarter.

Simmons, Denver’s longest-tenured Bronco, played with McManus from 2016-2022. Simmons also played with former Denver pass rusher Von Miller from 2016-2021.

Miller, who now plays for the Buffalo Bills, re-posted a Broncos highlight video on his Instagram story on Sunday night with the caption “Congrats” and an orange heart emoji.

Miller dominated the Chiefs from 2011-2015, posting a 8-2 record against Kansas City in his first five seasons in Denver. The Broncos then failed to beat the Chiefs in the next five and a half years before Miller was traded.

Denver has now finally snapped the losing streak, and Miller and McManus are happy to see it happen even as they play for other teams.

Miller has made it clear that he’ll always be a Bronco, and he still uses “we” when discussing the team. Perhaps we’ll see Miller return to Denver sometime down the road before he hangs up his cleats.

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Brandon McManus reacts to Broncos snapping losing streak vs. Chiefs

Jaguars kicker Brandon McManus congratulated Broncos safety Justin Simmons after Denver snapped its losing streak to the Chiefs on Sunday.

Brandon McManus was unceremoniously released by new Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton this offseason, but the kicker is clearly still keeping tabs on his old team.

After a Justin Simmons interception helped seal a 24-9 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ kicker took to Twitter/X to react to his former team snapping a 16-game losing streak to KC.

McManus and the Broncos beat KC 31-24 early in the 2015 season. Denver went on to lose 16-straight games against the Chiefs, including 15 games with McManus as their kicker.

Broncos safety Justin Simmons was drafted by Denver in 2016 and he lost 15-straight games to Kansas City before Sunday’s upset win. Simmons is the team’s longest-tenured player (eight seasons), followed by left tackle Garett Bolles (seven seasons) and receiver Courtland Sutton (six seasons). They all beat the Chiefs for the first time in Week 8 of the 2023 season.

The Broncos will now go into their bye week on a positive note. After the bye, Denver will go on the road to face the Buffalo Bills in Week 10.

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Jaguars’ Brandon McManus named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week

Brandon McManus earned AFC player of the week honors for the fourth time in his career.

Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Brandon McManus is the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week after nailing three field goals at Wembley Stadium to help his team to a 23-7 win against the Atlanta Falcons.

McManus, who was signed by the Jaguars in the offseason after nine years with the Denver Broncos, hit field goals from 56, 43, and 38 yards, as well as a pair of extra points against the Falcons. His 56-yarder was the longest for any kicker in the conference in Week 4.

It’s the fourth time McManus has earned the honor in his career. He also joins Mike Hollis, Josh Scobee, Josh Lambo, Matthew Wright, and Riley Patterson as Jaguars kickers to be the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week.

The win in London was a great day for Jaguars special teams as a whole. Logan Cooke was about as perfect as the team could’ve hoped from its punter.

The bounce-back performance came a week after the Jaguars special teams unit had one of its worst days ever against the Houston Texans. McManus missed an early field goal and had another blocked. Jacksonville also allowed Texans fullback Andrew Beck to return a kickoff for a touchdown.

McManus is the first Jaguars player to earn conference player of the week honors in 2023.

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Jaguars ST coordinator Heath Farwell explains blocked field goal error

Heath Farwell explained why there was a crease exploited by Will Anderson Jr. on a blocked field goal.

After a sluggish start for the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, momentum swung even harder in the Houston Texans’ direction when a 51-yard field goal attempt for Brandon McManus was blocked. Instead of cutting the Texans’ lead to 7-3, the visiting team quickly ballooned its lead to 14 points.

To block the kick, the Texans didn’t have a speedy player dive to make the play after bending around the edge. They didn’t have a player jump over the lines. And there wasn’t a Jaguars lineman pancaked on his back by a Houston player bulldozing his way to the kicker.

So why was Texans rookie linebacker Will Anderson Jr. able to squeeze through a gap and make the play?

“The way field goal protection works, everybody has to be in unison,” Jaguars special teams coordinator Heath Farwell explained Thursday. “It’s all interlocked in. When you have one guy that’s off or two guys that are off, you get a little crease.

“Our left tackle who has done a really good job for us so far this season, just got a little leaning forward and didn’t get his outside arm up. His job is to be interlocked in with that tackle, and make sure he has a heavy weight foot as his inside foot, so he doesn’t get pried out. Also, get a good arm hook. When you get a little crease like that, a good rusher like [Anderson], he’s able to get in there.”

While Farwell didn’t name anyone specifically, the issue came when tackles Walker Little and Anton Harrison didn’t work in unison on the left side of the line.

“Just not great execution and that’s on me,” Farwell said. “That’s something we have got to be much cleaner, that’s something we will work on a ton and it’s been addressed. We’re moving forward with it.”

It was one of two massive errors for the Jaguars special teams unit Sunday, as the team also allowed Texans fullback Andrew Beck to break free for an 85-yard kickoff return.

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