Tag: Jamal Agnew

Steelers work out ex-Jaguars receiver, Pro Bowl return specialist

As the Pittsburgh Steelers continue adding pieces to their practice squad, the team worked out former Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver/return specialist Jamal Agnew.

As the Pittsburgh Steelers continue scouting players for their practice squad, the team worked out former Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver/return specialist Jamal Agnew on Monday.

Agnew was selected in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions as a defensive back and won first-team All-Pro honors as a rookie.

In 2020, he switched to wide receiver. In 2022, Agnew was selected to the Pro Bowl as a return specialist after logging 1,025 all-purpose yards on kick and punt returns (Ravens WR Devin Duvernay could not participate because of injury).

He has four punt return touchdowns and two more scores on kick returns. Over seven seasons, Agnew has compiled 746 receiving yards and 263 rushing yards.

https://twitter.com/TomPelissero/status/1830712390045888837

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Marshon Lattimore’s 27-yard pick-six is the Saints Play of the Day

We’re turning the clock back to 2017. Marshon Lattimore’s 27-yard pick-six off of Matthew Stafford is the Saints Play of the Day:

We’ve got 27 days to go until the New Orleans Saints kick off their 2024 regular season, which make’s Marshon Lattimore’s 27-yard pick-six our Saints Play of the Day. Lattimore intercepted Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford to help run up the score in a 2017 win at home, and it turned out that the Saints would really need the points.

The Lions entered this game with a better record (3-2) than the Saints (2-2), but they were six-point underdogs inside the raucous Superdome. And the final score was much further apart than that. Lattimore’s pick-six was one of two defensive touchdowns the Saints scored on the afternoon,

Lattimore’s defensive touchdown gave the Saints a 45-10 lead midway through the third quarter, but the game wasn’t over yet. The Detroit offense scored two touchdowns on 22-yard passes from Stafford. Jamal Agnew cut through the Saints special teams unit for a 74-yard punt returned for a touchdown. And then A’Shawn Robinson kept their scoring streak alive with an interception of his own, returning it two yards into the New Orleans end zone. The Saints punted on their next possession and were suddenly holding onto a 45-38 lead when Detroit took over. Had Lattimore not scored earlier the game would have been tied.

Thankfully, Cameron Jordan came through to save the day. Agnew had muffed the punt and recovered it at his own 1-yard line. When Stafford dropped back to pass from his own end zone Jordan deflected the pass and snatched it out of the air for another pick-six. Wil Lutz hit the extra point and the Saints held on for a 52-38 victory. They wouldn’t lose again for the next five weeks.

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Updated list of Jaguars set to become 2024 free agents

The Jaguars have re-signed a handful of their impending free agents, but there are still several players set to hit the open market.

In addition to the six new Jacksonville Jaguars set to be added to the roster, the team has been working to bring back a few of their own free agents.

Ezra Cleveland, Jeremiah Ledbetter, and Daniel Thomas all signed new contracts with the Jaguars and both Blake Hance and D’Ernest Johnson will reportedly soon follow. Jacksonville also used the franchise tag to keep Josh Allen from hitting the market.

While the Jaguars hope they can add Calvin Ridley to that list, for now he and several of his 2023 teammates are set to hit the market when free agency officially begins Wednesday. Here’s every Jaguars player with an expiring contract who is still set to become a free agent:

With the Ravens’ Devin Duvernay set to join the Jaguars’ roster, Agnew’s time with the franchise is clearly over. He even said his goodbyes on social media Tuesday. In three seasons with the team, he earned a trip to the Pro Bowl, scored two return touchdowns, caught five touchdown passes, and recorded a rushing touchdown.

It was a quick hi and bye for Barkley, who signed with the Jaguars a day after Christmas in 2023 amid a string of injuries for Trevor Lawrence. He was active for Jacksonville’s Week 17 game against the Carolina Panthers and took six snaps in garbage time.

Blackson signed with the Jaguars just before the start of the 2023 season and had a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Despite being on the field for just 30 percent of the Jaguars’ defensive snaps, he managed to fall on three fumbles.

The Jaguars seemed to remain optimistic about the 2020 first-round pick all the way to the bitter end. But after four seasons, Chaisson has just five career sacks.

Claybrooks missed the entire 2023 season due to a domestic battery court case that’s still ongoing. While there was some confusion about whether his contract would toll over due to the lost year, Demetrius Harvey of the Florida Times-Union reports that Claybrooks will be an unrestricted free agent as of Wednesday.

After signing a three-year contract with the Jaguars as an undrafted rookie in 2018, Herndon re-signed with the team on one-year deals in 2021, 2022, and 2023. For the fourth straight offseason, he entered this March as an impending free agent. In six seasons with Jacksonville, Herndon has appeared in 83 career games and has three interceptions, nine tackles for loss, and 32 passes defended.

The Jaguars reportedly decided not to tender Johnson, who was set to be a restricted free agent this offseason. That’ll allow the special teams ace to hit the market after spending two seasons in Jacksonville.

McManus spent one season with the Jaguars and is reportedly headed elsewhere. The veteran kicker agreed to a one-year deal with the Commanders on Monday night.

Moore joined the Jaguars in 2022 and spent the entire year on the practice squad, then he spent all of 2023 on the team’s injured reserve. As an exclusive rights free agent, it’d cost next to nothing for Jacksonville to keep him, but there’s been no indication yet that they’ve extended a qualifying offer.

Quarterman, a fourth-round pick in 2020, played out the final year of his rookie contract in 2023. In four seasons with the Jaguars, he 54 career tackles, one tackle for loss, and one very consequential forced fumble.

Ridley is easily the biggest name on this list and the top receiver on the free agent market. In his first season with the Jaguars following a 2022 trade from the Falcons, Ridley recorded 76 receptions for 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns. Jacksonville is reportedly working to bring back the receiver and he “currently prefers to return” to the Jaguars, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

No player in Jaguars history has played more consecutive games with the team than Shatley. After signing with the team as a free agent in 2014, he signed new contracts with the Jaguars in 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. Shatley started six games for the Jaguars in 2023.

The Jaguars picked up Van Lanen in exchange for a seventh-round pick in 2022, but he’s appeared in just 71 snaps over two years with the team. As a restricted free agent, the Jaguars could tender the lineman, but there hasn’t been an indication that they’ve decided to do so.

Jaguars signing Ravens’ 2-time Pro Bowl returner Devin Duvernay

The Jaguars are signing one of the NFL’s best returners to replace Jamal Agnew.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have a deal in place to sign Baltimore Ravens return specialist Devin Duvernay to a two-year, $8.5 million contract when he becomes a free agent Wednesday, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Duvernay, 26, earned two Pro Bowl nods and All-Pro honors in his four seasons with the Ravens. He averaged at least 11 yards per punt return in all four seasons and led the league in 2021 with 13.8 yards per return. On kickoffs, Duvernay has a career average of 24.8 yards per return with two return touchdowns.

For the last three years, the Jaguars have had Jamal Agnew returning punts and kicks. While he earned Pro Bowl honors for the 2022 season, Agnew’s last season with Jacksonville was cut short by a fractured leg. He’s due to become a free agent Wednesday.

The Jaguars also drafted wide receiver Parker Washington in the sixth round last year and turned to him in the return game with Agnew out of action, but got underwhelming results.

As a receiver, Duvernay caught 122 passes for 880 yards and five touchdowns in his first three seasons with the Ravens. But with the additions of Zay Flowers and Odell Beckham Jr. to the offense, Duvernay finished the 2023 season with only four receptions for 18 yards.

According to Rapoport, offensive incentives could raise the value of Duvernay’s deal to $12.5 million.

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The Chiefs keep winning Super Bowls with a play taken from the Jaguars

The Chiefs keep scoring Super Bowl touchdowns with “Corn Dog,” a play they took straight out of the Jaguars’ playbook.

For the second year in a row and the third time in five seasons, the Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl champions. On Sunday, the Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers by scoring a walk-off touchdown in overtime.

If the 3-yard pass to Mecole Hardman that ended the game looked a little familiar, it’s because it was essentially the same play-call that resulted in two Chiefs touchdowns against the Philadelphia Eagles last year in Super Bowl LVII.

“Believe it or not, we had ‘Corn Dog’ last year and that was ‘Corn Dog’ [this year],” Chiefs coach Andy Reid told ESPN’s Booger McFarland after the game. “This was ‘Corn Dog’ with a little mustard and ketchup.”

So what’s “Corn Dog”? Well, it’s a play the Chiefs snagged straight from the Jacksonville Jaguars’ playbook.

Shortly after Kansas City beat Philadelphia last year, The Athletic’s Rustin Dodd was told by then-Chiefs quarterback Chad Henne that offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy showed the team a play from the Jaguars’ October 2022 game against the Eagles.

On Saturday night, Bieniemy had put a play up on the screen for everyone on the Chiefs’ offense to see. It came from the Eagles’ game against the Jaguars earlier this season, and it featured Jacksonville receiver Jamal Agnew faking as if he were going in motion before stopping, reversing course and getting open for a touchdown.

“(Bieniemy) put it on tape and said: ‘Hey, like, if they do this, this guy is wide open. It’s man (coverage),'” Henne said. “They’re just trying to protect themselves from the jet sweep and trying to bubble over the top and get an extra player (on the other side of the field). But we faked the jet twice, and they didn’t figure it out.”

Here’s what that play looked like in action when the Jaguars used it:

And here it is all three times the Chiefs have used it for Super Bowl touchdowns:

Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson began his NFL coaching career as an assistant on Reid’s staff in Philadelphia and eventually worked his way up to quarterbacks coach. He then followed Reid to Kansas City and served as the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator for three seasons.

While it’s now been eight years since they’ve been on the same staff, it seems Pederson’s offensive designs are still helping Reid find ways to get his team into the end zone.

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Top 15 plays of the Jaguars’ 2023 season

The Jaguars didn’t end up in the playoffs like they hoped, but they still made several impressive plays en route to a winning record.

The Jacksonville Jaguars didn’t end up in the playoffs as fans hoped and most expected.

Instead of defending their AFC South title from the season prior, the team lost five of its last six to stumble to a 9-8 finish. That wasn’t enough to beat out the Houston Texans for the division crown and didn’t earn them a wild card berth either.

While the ho-hum ending to the year left a sour taste, Jacksonville’s talented roster still turned out a few impressive plays en route to a winning record in the 2023 season.

Here are the Jaguars’ top 15 plays of the season:

Jaguars activate WR Christian Kirk from IR ahead of Week 18

Christian Kirk is back on the Jaguars’ active roster a month after undergoing core muscle surgery in December.

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Christian Kirk is back on the active roster after a four-week stint on injured reserve, the team announced Saturday.

Kirk, 27, underwent surgery in December after suffering a core muscle injury on the Jaguars’ first offensive play in Week 13. Earlier this week, Kirk revealed he’d been playing through a partial tear of a right abdominal muscle since Week 6 and said he tore his left ab and left adductor muscle “off the bone” in Week 13.

The loss of the veteran receiver — who led the team in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdown receptions in 2022 — has proven costly for the Jaguars. The team struggled with miscommunications between quarterback Trevor Lawrence and his receivers, leading to interceptions and miscues.

While Kirk will be on the active roster Sunday for a game against the Tennessee Titans, he’s expected to be a game-time decision and could still be scratched by the Jaguars ahead of kickoff.

In a corresponding move, the Jaguars moved return specialist and wide receiver Jamal Agnew to the injured reserve. The veteran suffered a broken ankle in the team’s Week 17 win against the Carolina Panthers and will miss the rest of the season, according to coach Doug Pederson.

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Jaguars PFF grades: Best and worst performers vs. Ravens

Jamal Agnew and Rayshawn Jenkins stood out in a losing effort against the Ravens.

The Jacksonville Jaguars had too many strong performances in a Week 15 game against the Baltimore Ravens to finish with only seven points.

Five times, the Jaguars drove inside Baltimore’s 40-yard line and none of those drives resulted in points. The only touchdown of the day came on a 65-yard bomb from Trevor Lawrence to Jamal Agnew in the third quarter.

For the most part, the Jacksonville defense showed up. Despite being in some disadvantageous spots, the Jaguars allowed only one touchdown in each half and three field goals.

Yet, the Ravens ran with a 23-7 road win against a Jaguars team that couldn’t stop tripping over its own feet. Who was most to blame for the 16-point loss, and who stood out most? Here’s how Pro Football Focus graded out the Jaguars’ performance:

Jaguars activate returner Jamal Agnew from injured reserve

Jamal Agnew is set to make his return to the Jaguars’ lineup after missing four games on injured reserve.

Jacksonville Jaguars return specialist and wide receiver Jamal Agnew is set to make his return to the lineup Sunday night after getting activated from the injured reserve Saturday.

Agnew landed on IR in November after suffering a shoulder injury on a return. The veteran missed the minimum amount of games required by IR rules and will presumably take back punt return duties from rookie Parker Washington and kickoff return duties from running back D’Ernest Johnson.

The question is how involved Agnew will be on offense with Christian Kirk now on injured reserve. Washington has stepped up as the team’s slot receiver and will likely continue to see time in that role.

Agnew earned Pro Bowl honors as a returner last season and All-Pro honors in his rookie season with the Detroit Lions. He is averaging 10.6 yards per punt return and 27.7 yards per kickoff return so far this year. Agnew has also contributed nine receptions on offense for 90 yards.

The Jaguars released quarterback Nathan Rourke to make room for Agnew on the 53-man roster.

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Jaguars rule out 2, list 7 as questionable vs. Ravens in Week 15

The Jaguars will be without starting defensive backs Tyson Campbell and Andre Cisco on Sunday.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will be without two starting defensive backs Sunday night when they play the Baltimore Ravens.

On Friday, the team ruled out cornerback Tyson Campbell and safety Andre Cisco. Second-year cornerback Montaric “Buster” Brown will likely fill in for Campbell and veteran safety Andrew “Dewey” Wingard will probably step in for Cisco.

Another seven Jaguars players are questionable for the Week 15 primetime contest.

Both Jamal Agnew and Christian Braswell are still on injured reserve and had their 21-day practice windows opened earlier this month. If either is available Sunday, that’ll likely be revealed Saturday when the Jaguars decide whether or not they’ll move one or both of them to the active roster.

It’d be a surprise if veteran defensive back Tre Herndon is unavailable after Doug Pederson said earlier Friday that he has cleared concussion protocol and “should be good to go.”

For Baltimore, only two players are questionable and all eyes are on the status of Kyle Hamilton.

During a press conference Friday, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said that Hamilton is “in a good place right now,” but also said “we’ll see how he does the next couple days.” The second-year safety has two interceptions, three sacks, and nine tackles for a loss so far in 2023.

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