Tag: Foye Oluokun

Doug Pederson says Jaguars’ home crowd was too loud for the defense

Doug Pederson says the Jaguars defense was struggling to communicate because the EverBank Stadium crowd was so loud Monday.

The video scoreboards at EverBank Stadium encouraged fans to be as loud as possible on defense. Jacksonville Jaguars players asked for noise from the crowd throughout the team’s Monday Night Football matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Jaguars coach Doug Pederson apparently thinks his team’s defense might’ve been better off if everyone piped down a little bit, though.

“The crowd, as loud as they are, when we’re on defense, we have to reiterate communication,” Pederson said after the Jaguars’ 34-31 overtime loss. “It’s not communication issues, it’s just being able to communicate the calls effectively. There’s a lot of talk that has to go back and forth because of the way the crowd was.

“The crowd was great today. That’s what you want. It does kind of put your defense in a little bit of a bind because of that, right? No different than the offense going into an environment that’s very loud. I wouldn’t say they’re issues. You’ve just got to over-communicate.”

It’s an odd excuse for the Jaguars’ awful night of defense in which they allowed 491 yards to an offense led by a quarterback making his second career start. But Jacksonville’s communication issues were also hard to miss Monday night.

Over and over, Jaguars veteran linebacker Foye Oluokun was directing traffic and helping his teammates get lined up correctly pre-snap.

“It’s all about executing our calls, making sure our communication is good across the board,” Oluokun said after the game. “When we’re all clean and doing what we’re supposed to do, I know we can play way better than that.”

Part of the issue was the early departure of veteran cornerback Tre Herndon due to a concussion. Second-year cornerback Gregory Junior stepped into the lineup and appeared to struggle to understand what to do against a Bengals offense that used motion often.

“You just got to talk,” Pederson said. “They got to make verbal communication, eye contact. You got to get closer. It’s just part of a loud environment. It’s repeating yourself as much as you can out on the field.”

Next up for the Jaguars is a road trip to play the Cleveland Browns. Presumably, it’ll be quiet when the Browns are on offense. Oddly enough, that might be just what Jacksonville’s defense needs.

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5 Jaguars players to watch vs. the Bengals in Week 13

The left side of the Jaguars’ offensive line will be under the microscope with Cam Robinson out of action.

The Jacksonville Jaguars faced a must-win game last Sunday when they traveled to play the Houston Texans. While they didn’t win by 20 points like Houston did in Week 3, Jacksonville pulled out a win to get a strong hold of the AFC South.

Now the Jaguars will host the Bengals on Monday Night Football. The Week 13 matchup was supposed to be one of Jacksonville’s biggest games of the season; however, with superstar quarterback Joe Burrow out for the season, Jacksonville is a clear favorite.

Here are five Jaguars players to watch when they try to take care of business against the Bengals in Week 13:

7 Jaguars most deserving of 2024 Pro Bowl Games votes

Which Jaguars players have your vote?

Voting for the 2024 Pro Bowl Games officially opened Monday and can be done right here.

Last year, despite earning an AFC South title and a playoff win over the Los Angeles Chargers, the Jacksonville Jaguars had zero players make the initial Pro Bowl roster. Eventually, injuries and the Super Bowl opened up enough spots that quarterback Trevor Lawrence and return specialist Jamal Agnew earned the honors.

The 2023 season should probably be different, though.

Unlike last year, the Jaguars won’t need to win five straight games to claw back above .500 and into the playoff picture. Jacksonville is rolling with an 8-3 record and plenty of deserving candidates.

In a conference with quarterbacks like C.J. Stroud, Josh Allen, Tua Tagovailoa, Patrick Mahomes, and Justin Herbert all putting up big numbers, it could take a lot for Lawrence to get another nod. But these seven Jaguars players deserve to get in when the rosters are announced later this season:

Jaguars ‘looking to get lick back’ vs. Texans after blowout Week 3 loss

There’s a lot at stake for the Jaguars on Sunday, including a chance at revenge for an embarrassing September loss.

A lot is on the line Sunday at NRG Stadium. The winner of a Week 12 game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans will be first place in the AFC South when December begins.

For the Jaguars, the divisional matchup is also a chance to right an earlier wrong. A 37-17 loss to the Texans at EverBank Stadium in September doesn’t sit well.

“They came in and handled their business here on our home turf,” Jaguars tight end Evan Engram said this week. “We have to respond after a great win [vs. the Titans], but we gotta respond from the first time we played them. It’s a big game, it’s a huge game, and we’ll definitely be looking to get our lick back.”

“You don’t want to lose to a team twice,” Jaguars linebacker Foye Oluokun said. “I just remember we didn’t tackle well, we had some communication errors in the defensive backfield … our energy was down and we didn’t play good football the whole game. We didn’t put our best foot forward in that game and they jumped on us because of that.”

The Texans entered that Week 3 matchup as a 7.5-point underdog after starting the year with an 0-2 record. But by halftime, it was Houston with a 17-0 lead.

While Jacksonville clawed back to within a touchdown of the lead, an 86-yard kickoff return for Texans fullback Andrew Beck ended much hope of a comeback.

“We remember that feeling and that gives you a little bit of motivation,” Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence said. “I think that only goes so far in this league, you still got to go and prepare and have a great plan and go execute on Sunday. You can have all the motivation in the world, I felt like we’ve been prepared in a lot of games and maybe didn’t play well.

“We all know what is at stake, there’s no hiding anything. You’re not going to pull any fast ones on anybody. We all know how big this game is and what it could mean at the end of the year.”

With a win, the 7-3 Jaguars would have a two-game lead in the AFC South and have tiebreakers all but wrapped up with a 4-1 record in divisional games. But a loss would allow the 6-4 Texans to pull even and secure the head-to-head tiebreaker with a season sweep.

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Foye Oluokun nominated for Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award

Foye Oluokun is the Jaguars’ nominee for the NFL’s annual sportsmanship award.

Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker and defensive team captain Foye Oluokun is nominated for the 2023 Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award, the NFL announced Wednesday.

“He plays the game right,” Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said of Oluokun on Wednesday. “He comes into work every day, puts in the time. A great leader on and off the field. He plays hard. Like I said, he just plays it the right way.

“He never misses a day. You can count on him. He’s accountable and he’s very deserving of this honor.”

Oluokun, 28, was signed by the Jaguars last offseason after he played his first four NFL seasons with the Atlanta Falcons. In his first season with Jacksonville, he led the NFL in tackles. So far this year, Oluokun has 107 tackles, 2.5 sacks, an interception, a forced fumble, and three fumble recoveries.

All 32 teams elect a nominee for the award, which was first created in 2014. No Jaguars player has won before, although the team’s former defensive lineman Calais Campbell won the honor last season while with the Baltimore Ravens.

The winner will be determined by a vote of current NFL players, who are not allowed to vote for their teammate. The award will be announced at the NFL Honors show before Super Bowl LVIII.

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Devin Lloyd, Foye Oluokun fined for Week 10 plays vs. 49ers

The Jaguars’ starting inside linebackers got a chunk taken out of their paychecks for plays against the 49ers last week.

Jacksonville Jaguars linebackers Devin Lloyd and Foye Oluokun both received fines from the NFL for plays during the team’s 34-3 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 10.

Lloyd was fined $10,927 for a facemask penalty he picked up late in the first half. Oluokun received an even bigger $16,391 fine for unnecessary roughness on his third quarter sack of 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, his second sack of the game. No penalty was called on the play that earned Oluokun a fine.

Also noteworthy is that Jaguars guard Brandon Scherff didn’t receive a fine for a moment that 49ers defensive lineman Arik Armstead called a “dirty play.”

Prior to Week 10, the Jaguars had been fined just twice through the first nine weeks for game-related rules violations: a Week 5 hit from Jeremiah Ledbetter on the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen and a Week 8 hit from Adam Gotsis on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Kenny Pickett. Both plays were unpenalized.

Through 10 weeks, 280 total plays across the NFL have resulted in fines.

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5 Jaguars players to watch vs. the Titans in Week 11

Which Jaguars players need to step up in a big way Sunday against the Titans?

With a division opponent next up, the Jacksonville Jaguars are in need of a major bounce back.

Jacksonville was walloped in a 34-3 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 10. Now, the team will stay in Duval to play the Tennessee Titans in their first of two games against the division rival this year.

The Titans haven’t had a great season so far, but head coach Mike Vrabel and his team also seem to be a threat to steal a game from the Jaguars.

Here are five Jaguars players to watch when they play the Titans in Week 11:

Jaguars PFF grades: Best and worst performers vs. 49ers

There weren’t many standout performances for the Jaguars in their blowout loss to the 49ers.

The Jacksonville Jaguars were thoroughly dominated by the San Francisco 49ers in a 34-3 loss Sunday.

In the words of offensive tackle Cam Robinson, “San Fran beat the [expletive] out of us.”

The game wasn’t completely without its silver linings for the Jaguars, though. While most of the team’s most important players didn’t play well at all, Sunday wasn’t completely without standout performances.

At Pro Football Focus, they graded every player in the 49ers’ blowout Week 10 win at EverBank Stadium.

Here are the Jaguars players who stood out and struggled most in the win, according to the grades at PFF:

Studs and duds in Jaguars’ 34-3 loss in Week 10 to 49ers

It was a rough day for almost every Jaguars player Sunday against the 49ers.

The Jacksonville Jaguars didn’t think they came out flat against the San Francisco 49ers. They simply got dominated.

“That’s what’s most frustrating is when you play like this and you can’t point to something during the week,” Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence said after the game. “I thought we had a great week of practice, we had the right mindset, obviously there was some disconnect at some point to play that way, but I thought the energy was really good.

“We were all amped to play we knew this was a big game, knew this was a good team coming in here and we felt like we could take advantage of this opportunity and beat a good team and we didn’t. We played our worse game of the year.”

So who deserves the blame for the embarrassing 34-3 loss? And which players did alright, despite the lopsided score? Here are some studs and duds from the Jaguars’ Week 10 blowout loss:

Jaguars stomped at home by visiting 49ers in embarrassing loss

The 31-point loss to the 49ers is the most lopsided for the Jaguars since hiring Doug Pederson as head coach.

The Jacksonville Jaguars hoped the momentum from a five-game win streak would carry through their Week 9 bye. It didn’t.

Instead, the Jaguars were blown out by the San Francisco 49ers in a 34-3 loss in Week 10.

The 31-point loss is the most lopsided for the team since hiring Doug Pederson as head coach and it raised serious questions about the team’s legitimacy as a postseason contender.

After the Jaguars opened the game with a pair of three-and-outs on offense, the 49ers built a double-digit lead in the first quarter. While Jacksonville managed a second quarter field goal, it proved to be the only points of the game for the Jaguars, who continued their habit of turning the ball over in scoring position.

Following the loss, the Jaguars are 6-3 and still atop the AFC South. However, the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts are now nipping at their heels.

Here’s how the Jaguars’ embarrassing loss to the 49ers went down: