Jaguars pull Trevor Lawrence late in loss to Bills
Down 40-10 in the fourth quarter and after he had taken four sacks, the Jaguars pulled quarterback Trevor Lawrence out of their Monday Night Football matchup with the Bills.
Lawrence finished the game 21-of-38 passing for 178 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The Jaguars did not announce an injury to Lawrence when he exited the game.
Opting for former New England first-round pick and offseason trade acquisition Mac Jones, Jacksonville made its quarterback change the possession after Buffalo pulled starting quarterback Josh Allen in favor of former Chicago first-round pick Mitch Trubisky.
Allen completed 23-of-30 throws for 263 yards and four touchdowns against the Jaguars.
While the move does not necessarily mean Jacksonville intends to bench Lawrence, it is notable nonetheless as it comes not even a full three games following the five-year, $275 million contract extension he signed with the Jaguars this offseason.
The deal tied Lawrence with Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow as the NFL’s highest-paid player in average annual value, $55 million.
The Jaguars’ disastrous offensive showing Monday night was their latest to begin the 2024 campaign, after averaging 15 points per game over the first two weeks of the season, including Jacksonville’s 20-17 loss at Miami and 18-13 defeat at home versus Cleveland.
Through three starts, Lawrence completed 47-of-89 passes for 560 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
The Jaguars were losing to the Bills 47-10 with two minutes left in regulation at press time.
This is a breaking news story that will be updated.
Mac Jones gets roasted by a two-time Patriots Super Bowl champion
If Mac Jones isn’t a fan of Rob Ninkovich, the former New England Patriots defensive legend made it clear he isn’t a fan of Jones, either.
During a segment on “The Dan and Ninko Show,” Ninkovich relentlessly roasted the former Patriots starting quarterback when presented with the possibility that Jones doesn’t like him.
“I don’t give a [expletive]. I’ll smack the [expletive] out of [expletive] Mac Jones,” said Ninkovich. “I don’t care. …[Expletive] him. I hope he has a great career as a backup and makes a ton of money.”
Ninkovich even went as far as imitating Jones’ voice during press conferences, expressing that he prefers Drake Maye as quarterback for the team.
“I’d rather listen to Drake Maye talk than, ‘Yeah, my modeling career didn’t work out. So now, I’m back down here in Jacksonville,'” said Ninkovich. “I’m a nice guy, too. I’m a nice guy. I’m in a bike club. I needed some more nuts.”
Jones was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the offseason, and he ended up winning the top backup job behind Trevor Lawrence. He looked nothing like the quarterback who went 2-9 on the season in 2023 with 2,120 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Hopefully, a more stable situation can help the former first-round draft pick turn his career around. One thing is certain: Ninkovich won’t miss him.
Mac Jones pushes forward in Jaguars’ 20-7 preseason win over Bucs
There were more combined punt yards (553) than offensive yards (542) in Jacksonville’s 20-7 victory over Tampa Bay on Saturday night, a feat that perhaps should have been expected as the Jaguars and Buccaneers sat their starters for Week 2 of the 2024 preseason.
Mac Jones started at quarterback for the Jaguars with Trevor Lawrence and most of the first-team offense sidelined following joint practices with the Buccaneers this week.
In over a half of playing time, Jones completed 16-of-23 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns, with long scoring throws to wide receivers Parker Washington in the second quarter and Brevin Easton in the fourth.
Jacksonville went 8-of-11 on third down with Jones behind center, with only two failed conversions in his half as a starter. One was dropped by wide receiver Elijah Cooks on a crossing route, well past the line to gain and near midfield.
Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson complimented Jones for his showing during the game. His competition for Jacksonville’s backup quarterback role, C.J. Beathard, played in the second half but exited early with a groin injury, leading to Jones’ reinsertion and second score of the night.
“I think he’s doing some good things. He’s staying composed,” Pederson said of Jones during an in-game interview with Brent Martineau of Action Jax Sports.
“We missed a big third down that would have been great to get but I think he’s seeing the field, he’s making good strong accurate throws and I believe he’s playing well.”
Beathard went 5-of-7 for 40 yards, taking three sacks but adding 10 yards over two rushes.
12 different Jaguars receivers caught a pass with Austin Trammell leading the team in receptions (four) and yards (75).
Defensively, defensive ends Breeland Speaks and Joe Gaziano, the latter of which signed with the Jaguars Friday, and defensive tackle Esezi Otomewo produced Jacksonville’s biggest impact plays against the pass, with one sack apiece.
Jacksonville’s coverage team played soundly, too, limiting Tampa Bay passers Kyle Trask and John Wolford to just 4.8 yards per attempt combined.
The Buccaneers averaged a solid 4.8 yards per rushing attempt but largely abandoned the running game into the second half.
Jacksonville will wrap up its preseason on the road next week, with the Jaguars heading to Atlanta to face the Falcons on Friday at 7 p.m. ET.
Jaguars’ Mac Jones draws inspiration from Bucs QB as he turns the page
As Mac Jones prepares for about one half of action against the Buccaneers on Saturday, the Jaguars’ quarterback has reflected on inspiration he’s drawn from a player who will be on Tampa Bay’s sideline.
While their career trajectories aren’t carbon copies of one another, Jones sees a bit of his story in that of Buccaneers starting quarterback Baker Mayfield, Cleveland’s 2018 No. 1 overall draft pick who was traded away before the expiration of his rookie contract.
“Baker’s journey is something that’s inspiring for me and a lot of quarterbacks,” Jones said Thursday.
“It’s not going to be perfect from the start to the finish. You might go up and down and then he kind of found his little home. Hopefully, that can be [an] inspiration for me and many others.”
Jones experienced a similar situation this offseason when New England, which took him at No. 15 overall in 2021, traded him to Jacksonville, his hometown team, for a sixth-round pick after benching him mid-game on four occasions last season.
The Patriots took quarterback prospect Joe Milton III with the selection they received for Jones this spring, after snagging quarterback Drake Maye No. 3 overall in the first round.
Mayfield was dealt to Carolina for a fifth-round pick in 2022 despite Cleveland having picked up his fifth-year option, after the Browns traded for Deshaun Watson and signed him to an unprecedented, fully guaranteed $230 million contract.
Watson has appeared in only 12 games in two seasons with the Browns and his deal is currently viewed as one of the most egregious in NFL history. Mayfield, meanwhile, has revitalized his career, not with the Panthers but with their NFC South rival Buccaneers.
Dec 24, 2023; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) runs for the first down against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the second quarter at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Reper-USA TODAY Sports
Mayfield joined Tampa Bay after splitting the 2022 season between Carolina, which waived him after six starts, and Los Angeles, with whom he won two games starting in relief of the injured Matthew Stafford.
He took that job from one of his current backups, John Wolford.
Mayfield’s play with the Rams led him to the Buccaneers’ starting quarterback role, which was vacated by their Super Bowl LV-winning passer Tom Brady last offseason, on a one-year deal. Following his 4,044-yard, 28-touchdown 2023 campaign, Tampa Bay inked Mayfield a three-year, $100 million extension in March.
Jones caught up with Mayfield the season before the latter’s resurgence with the Buccaneers.
The former — then an heir to Brady in the town where he won his first six Super Bowls — faced struggles of his own around the time of their conversation. Jones began his 2022 campaign with five interceptions, two losses and an ankle sprain in three games following a rookie season that ended in a playoff appearance.
“I talked to [Mayfield] a little bit … two years ago when he was on the Panthers,” Jones recalled.
“I just enjoy watching quarterbacks’ journeys and everyone’s is different. I can definitely find motivation from that one. And maybe I’ll pick his brain a little bit more. But he’s a great quarterback he’s fighting back and has done a good job of that. And I think a lot of people can take note.”
Mayfield won’t play Saturday night when his Buccaneers meet the Jaguars at EverBank Stadium, with most if not all starters from both teams expected to sit after a pair of joint practices in Jacksonville this week.
But Jones will, amid his preseason position battle with three-year Jacksonville C.J. Beathard in their fight to become the Jaguars’ No. 2 signal-caller behind starter Trevor Lawrence.
The competition has been anything but contentious, though, per Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson. Jones and Beathard have echoed Pederson’s sentiment.
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Mac Jones (10) and quarterback C.J. Beathard (3) play catch during a combined NFL football training camp session between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Jacksonville Jaguars Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024 at EverBank Stadium’s Miller Electric Center in Jacksonville, Fla. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]“Both those guys have really embraced the challenge. We’ve been upfront with both of them and explained exactly how camp was going to go and really both of them I think are within three or four reps of having a 50-50 split, right down the middle” Pederson said Thursday, calling the contest “really close.”
“It’s been good competition. C.J. has been a really positive influence on Mac, just learning the system too. That’s something you don’t see. When somebody’s challenging for your spot, and you see that other player coach him up a little bit, that’s encouraging and that’s positive. But both guys have done a great job.”
Whether one believes Mayfield was a “bust” in Cleveland or that the Browns did him wrong — he did lead the Browns to their first playoff appearance in nearly two decades in 2020 — he overcame all obstacles from that position: being traded, getting cut, becoming a third-string player and successfully supplanting the greatest passer ever in Tampa Bay on a prove-it pact.
As Jones turns the page, beginning a new chapter of his NFL career in Jacksonville with one season remaining on his rookie contract, he is channeling an energy with which Mayfield has long been associated: self-assured no matter the circumstances he faces.
“I’ve competed my whole life and I find great joy in competition,” said Jones. “I try to be myself. I’m not going to change because of one thing or another … I’m just looking forward to competing. It’s not all going to be perfect, but you’ve got to learn from it and continue to build momentum into the season.”
The Jaguars updated their depth chart on Tuesday, ahead of their second 2024 preseason game, against the Buccaneers, this Saturday.
The depth chart is virtually unchanged from a week ago, aside from Tashaun Gipson Sr.’s addition as Jacksonville’s fifth-team free safety. Gipson stands behind Darnell Savage Jr., Andrew Wingard, Terrell Edmunds and Josh Proctor in descending order.
Of note, Mac Jones maintains the No. 2 quarterback role on the depth chart, although it was third-team passer C.J. Beathard who stepped into the game upon starter Trevor Lawrence’s first-quarter exit against Kansas City on Saturday.
One of Jones and Beathard will start against Tampa Bay this weekend, with the Jaguars planning to sit their starters after two joint practice sessions with the Buccaneers between Wednesday and Thursday.
Mac Jones is getting his confidence back in Jacksonville
It’s way too soon to be saying the grass is greener on the other side from a football perspective, but from strictly a mental perspective, former New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones is better off with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
He’s back at home without the weight of the world of a starting quarterback on his shoulders. This is a situation where he can finally take a step back, catch his breath and let someone else take the wheel for once.
“The whole change of scenery definitely helped,” Jones told The Athletic’s Jeff Howe in an interview. “I’m just having fun playing football. I’m at my best when I’m keeping it loose, letting it rip and having that gunslinger mindset that I maybe had lost a little bit of. But I got it back here, and you’ve just got to be consistent with it. It’s good days, bad days and everything in between.”
That gunslinger mindset helped Jones earn a Pro Bowl nod in his first NFL season. It also got the Patriots back to the playoffs.
Unfortunately, that success in New England was short-lived.
There’s enough blame to go around for why Jones went from the future franchise face of an organization to the backup on another team in merely three years.
Former Patriots coach Bill Belichick wrote the book on all of the wrong ways to develop a young quarterback with the constant turnover at offensive coordinator, the barren talent at the skilled positions and a porous offensive line.
It was a recipe for disaster from the start, and Jones crumbled instantly.
He started to second-guess himself on the field, and he went from being a promising young quarterback to a turnover machine who was benched multiple times for Bailey Zappe.
Then he had to face the endless waves of backlash for his poor performances from outsiders. That comes with the territory of being a franchise quarterback, and Jones clearly wasn’t ready for it.
Now, he’s in a situation where he isn’t expected to be the guy. He can let loose and be himself for a bit, while working on his game behind the scenes. Perhaps he improves well enough to take on another starting job one day, or maybe this is the role he sees himself in now.
“I just want to go out there and put on a show and bring other people with me,” said Jones. “Bring maybe a rookie undrafted kid who has a chance to make the team: ‘Hey, how can you get better? How can I help you?’ Whatever I can do to bring those guys (along). I think when you elevate the young guys, it pushes everybody.”
Cam Newton and Mac Jones comment on Bill Belichick’s dating life
Former New England Patriots quarterbacks Cam Newton and Mac Jones caught up with one another on the red carpet at the 2024 ESPYs on Thursday, and it didn’t take long before Bill Belichick’s dating life became a topic of conversation.
Belichick, 72, is believed to be dating 23-year-old Jordon Hudson. The grandfather-sized age gap between the two has received varying opinions over the last few months.
So naturally, Newton wanted to get Jones’ thoughts on the matter.
“I have to ask this. Your former coach, his dating choice right now, what are we doing? Do we approve?” asked Newton.
Jones agreed to respond, but he wanted Newton to share his opinion first.
“No, I don’t approve. I’m not even going to lie. I don’t approve. But just to see him doing what he’s doing now is like,” Newton said, while leaning back with a shocked look on his face.
The two cackled with laughter before Jones finally stated his piece on the matter.
Belichick appears to be enjoying his time away from football after splitting with the Patriots back in January.
He spent the last 24 years turning the team into the greatest dynasty in NFL history. Now, he’s exploring the other part of life where he’s not buried in his office working as both an NFL head coach and general manager.
Who he chooses to spend that time with is ultimately up to him and the other consenting adult involved. But of course, people are also free to have their opinions, too.
This former Alabama QB-WR combo ranks top 10 among all-time college football playmaking duos.
Throughout the history of the Alabama Crimson Tide football program, dozens of players rank among the elites of their respective positional units. However, it’s the relationship between those players that result in championship wins and the creation of dynasties.
Alabama’s most recent national championship in 2020 featured the duo of quarterback Mac Jones and wide receiver DeVonta Smith. Both would go on to be first-round selections in the NFL draft and Smith was awarded the Heisman Trophy, with Jones being a finalist the same season.
“Alabama saw several All-American quarterback to wideout combos during Nick Saban’s illustrious tenure, but the 2020 season featuring Mac Jones and DeVonta Smith was the greatest. Smith recorded 117 catches for 1,856 yards and 23 touchdowns, the greatest season ever in Tuscaloosa at the position. Via the Heisman Trust, Smith became the first wide receiver since Desmond Howard to win the prestigious honor after leading Alabama to an undefeated season and a berth in the College Football Playoff. He went on to dominate in both playoff games, including a record-setting first half in the finale against Ohio State. In his only season as Alabama’s starting quarterback, Jones managed 4,500 yards passing with 41 scores.”
The duo was electric to watch while they were teammates in Tuscaloosa, as their flashy plays left defenses in a daze en route to a national championship and an undefeated season.
Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama football news as the 2024 college football season approaches.
Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow AJ Spurr on X @SpurrFM.
Mac Jones and Kenny Pickett were benched and later traded, but the NFLPA says they still sold more licensed merchandise in the last year than Derek Carr:
New Orleans Saints fans haven’t exactly embraced Derek Carr. They’ve kept high standards at quarterback after enjoying so many years of Drew Brees’ excellence, and their hesitance to support Carr after he failed to lead the team to the playoffs may have felt warranted.
That lukewarm reception was backed up by the NFL Players Association annual report on licensed merchandise sales, which didn’t include Carr inn its top 50. Here are the criteria:
The NFLPA Top 50 Player Sales List is the only verified ranking of all officially licensed, NFL player-branded merchandise sold from online and traditional retail outlets as reported by over 85 NFLPA licensees such as Fanatics, Outerstuff, Nike, Fathead, FOCO and Funko. Licensed product categories included trading cards, men’s, women’s and youth game jerseys, T-shirts and hoodies, backpacks, wall decals, pennants, collectible figurines, matted and framed photos, bobbleheads, plush, drinkware, pet products, and many more
While Carr didn’t make the cut, other quarterbacks did — and several of them were benched by the teams they played for last year, traded after the season, or both. Mac Jones was sidelined by the New England Patriots after stumbling to a 2-9 record, and later traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars, but he clocked in at No. 50. Both of the quarterbacks the Pittsburgh Steelers acquired in trades this offseason made the list (Russell Wilson at No. 42, Justin Fields at No. 31), as did their own former first-round quarterback bust Kenny Pickett (No. 34).
So if it felt like there weren’t many Carr jerseys inside the Caesars Superdome last year, you were probably right. Carr needs to do better than what we saw from him last year to win Saints fans over. Another year without reaching the playoffs and on-field chirping with his coaches and teammates won’t convince anyone he’s worth supporting with an autographed photo, refrigerator magnet, or even a trading card. Hopefully he’s up to the challenge.
Bill Belichick really screwed up the end of his Patriots tenure.
The last few years were rather painful for the New England Patriots. Former New England running back Damien Harris is putting much of the blame on legendary ex-coach Bill Belichick, especially regarding the foibles of former first-round bust Mac Jones.
During a recent episode of The Athletic Football Show, Harris discussed what went wrong during the late stages of the Patriots’ Belichick era. He didn’t mince his words, blaming Belichick, who amassed a questionable offensive staff after Jones’ rookie success in 2021. Hoo boy, that’s not necessarily a novel insight, but it remains wild to hear from someone like Harris who was actually there.
“What happened in New England to Mac Jones was because of the fact you took away an offensive coordinator who coached him to be a Pro Bowler [Josh McDaniels] and almost coached us to winning our division with a rookie quarterback in his first year,” Harris started to explain.
“And then you take — whenever Josh McDaniels left [after the 2021 season] — Matt Patricia, who has coached defenses his entire life, and Joe Judge, who has been a special teams coach, coached receivers at some point. And then you just throw them in there and be like, ‘Hey, coach this kid up. He’s a first=round pick, but as long as you teach him what I say, everything will be fine,’ and [expletive] wasn’t fine.”
Well, that’s certainly a pointed criticism of Belichick’s mismanagement, and it’s hard to argue with. A young quarterback like Jones not only needs consistency with his coaches, but his coaches have to know what they’re talking about, too. That didn’t appear to be the case in New England.
With that said, some of this analysis probably absolves Jones too much. Considering how atrocious he looked in both 2022 and 2023, I’m not entirely convinced things would’ve turned out markedly better with a more experienced offensive staff. Sometimes, a bad quarterback is just a bad quarterback, no matter how you slice it.
Harris also seemed to partly echo these sentiments, particularly given Belichick’s successful precedent with the Patriots over two decades.
“He [Belichick] needs full-on control. That’s just the kind of guy Bill Belichick is,” Harris said. “But at the same time, can you blame him? Because in the 20 years where he had full control, he had a lot of success. So you can’t blame him.”
The good thing for the Patriots is that all of this madness is over now.
Jerod Mayo is the head coach, Drake Maye is the quarterback, and none of what happened at the end of Belichick’s run in New England diminishes the tremendous success he enjoyed for years beforehand.
