Tag: Roy Robertson-Harris

Bryce Young on Sunday’s big hit: ‘It was nothing serious’

Panthers QB Bryce Young continues to shake off Sunday’s big hit from Jaguars DE Roy Robertson-Harris.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young gave everyone a scare this past Sunday, when he took quite a bit of time to get up from a crushing sack.

Young, on the team’s opening possession in their Week 17 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, absorbed a big hit from defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris. He had remained down while trainers and teammates tended to him, a scene that left many to assume the worst.

But the rookie, in yet another show of toughness, didn’t even end up missing a single snap.

On Wednesday, Young was asked if he thought the hit was going to keep him out of the game.

“No, that wasn’t the case,” he replied. “Just took a hard hit, just an awkward hit that took a little bit longer to get up from. After that, was able to walk back to the sideline, went in the tent for a second, everything was all good. I just wanna do everything I could to get back. It was nothing serious, which definitely is a blessing.”

Speaking of blessings, it may be a miracle that Young has played in 16 of Carolina’s 17 contests. Heading into Week 18, he’s been sacked 59 times this season—the second-most in 2023 and the second-most for a rookie in NFL history.

That number is especially troubling given the outside concerns about his 5-foot-10, 200-pound frame. That talk, however, still doesn’t bother Young.

“For me, that was never something that was on my mind,” he later said of his size. “I’m not out there to prove anything wrong or to make a point. I’ve always been focused on tryna do the best that I can at my job, tryna help the team, try to focus on what I can control. That’s something that never really fell in that category. So, it wasn’t really something that was a big focus for me.”

Young was listed on today’s injury report due to his back, which can’t be feeling at 100 percent after a six-sack outing on New Year’s Eve. Nonetheless, he was a full participant in practice.

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Why the Jaguars’ defense, and the ‘other’ Josh Allen, deserve your attention

The 8-3 Jacksonville Jaguars are getting it done with a defense that may have escaped your attention. It’s time to take a closer look.

Quite under the radar, the Jacksonville Jaguars have assembled a 8-3 record, and they’re currently the AFC’s three-seed, behind the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs. The prime mover for this improvement for a team that finished 9-8 last season, snuck into the playoffs, and lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round, is a defense that currently ranks fifth in the NFL in DVOA — eighth against the pass, and first against the run.

And the prime mover in that defense is clearly EDGE Josh Allen — the Josh Allen who’s having the better season of the NFL’s two Josh Allen’s. The 2019 seventh-overall pick out of Kentucky has the league’s fifth-most pressures among edge-rushers, and his 13 sacks ranks third.

Against the Houston Texans last Sunday in a 24-21 win, that defense and Allen in particular made rookie phenom C.J. Stroud as uncomfortable in and out of the pocket as he’s been in his professional career. Per Pro Football Focus, Stroud was pressured on 28 of his 46 dropbacks, and that’s exactly what it looked like on tape.

“They really didn’t do too much,” Stroud said after the game of Jacksonville’s pressure looks. “They sent some pressure, but not as much as they did early on [in Week 3, when the Texans beat the Jaguars, 37-17]. They got us a couple of times in some weird fronts with some pressure looks. I’ve got to be better with throwing the ball high and things like that, but they really didn’t do much different. They’re a sound team. They’re up front. Josh Allen and [fellow EDGE Travon] Walker set the tone.”

Allen’s two sacks in this game showed how defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell and defensive line coach Brentson Buckner are dialing things up in subtle ways to affect and upset opposing quarterbacks.

The first sack came with 3:14 left in the first quarter. Linebackers Foyesade Oluokun and Devin Lloyd mugged left guard Juice Scruggs. This made it a six-man pressure look with Olokun dropping and Lloyd occupying left tackle Laremy Tunsil, while Allen came off the left edge unblocked — not a great idea. At the same time, safety Tre Herndon blitzed from the other side on a delay from slot depth.

Allen’s second sack came with 2:24 left in the fourth quarter. Here, Allen was to Tunsil’s outside shoulder, and defensive tackle Angelo Blackson was to Scruggs’ outside shoulder. Blackson occupied Scruggs, and then Allen just made a great play, slipping through Tunsil and Scruggs and chasing Stroud down. This is a defense that can get after your quarterback in multiple ways.

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys go deep on this Jacksonville defense, the secret stars that make it work, and how this can set the Jaguars up for success as the season continues.

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You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os,” featuring all of Week 13’s biggest NFL matchups, right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: Previewing Week 13’s biggest NFL matchups

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys go deep on Week 13’s biggest NFL matchup with tape and metrics.

It’s time for Week 13 of the 2023 NFL season, including three Thanksgiving games, and the league’s first Black Friday contest ever. Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup, and Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire and the USA Today Sports Media Group, are here to get you ready for the most important matchups:

Seattle Seahawks at Dallas Cowboys: Can Seattle fix its passing game, and deal with a version of Dak Prescott that might be the best we’ve seen?

Denver Broncos at Houston Texans: The underrated players who are at the heart of Denver’s drastic defensive improvement over the last five games.

San Francisco 49ers at Philadelphia Eagles: How both of these teams set up future plays with current plays, and a throw from Brock Purdy you have to see to believe. Also, Jason Kelce might be playing the best football of his Hall of Fame career.

Kansas City Chiefs at Green Bay Packers: This Super Bowl I “rematch” comes at a time when Packers quarterback Jordan Love is coming into his own as a franchise quarterback.

Cincinnati Bengals at Jacksonville Jaguars: We have not talked enough about the 9-3 Jaguars on both sides of the ball. We would like to apologize, and go deep on Jacksonville’s pressure packages, and how they get their receivers open with scheme.

You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os” right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Jaguars PFF grades: Best and worst performances vs. Texans in Week 12

Who was the best player on the field Sunday in the Jaguars’ 24-21 win?

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ 24-21 win against the Houston Texans on Sunday was probably the most important and consequential of the team’s 2023 season so far.

By avenging their 20-point loss to Houston earlier in the year, the Jaguars took a strong command of the AFC South with six weeks of football left to play. And while many have made officiating the story of the game, the Jaguars simply made more plays than the Texans.

It’s no accident that Jacksonville finished with 445 yards of total offense, nearly 100 more than the Houston offense. The Texans recorded no sacks while the Jaguars brought down C.J. Stroud four times.

The analysts at Pro Football Focus graded every player’s performance in the critical Week 12 game. Here’s who PFF thought stood out most Sunday:

Tyson Campbell out, 2 Jaguars questionable vs. Texans

The Jaguars will once again be without their top cornerback this week.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will again be without Tyson Campbell when they play the Houston Texans in Week 12.

In the final injury report of the week, the Jaguars ruled out the cornerback and listed two players as questionable.

It’d be a surprise if wide receiver Zay Jones or defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Jones weren’t able to play Sunday. Both players were questionable, but played in Week 11 and neither suffered any setback.

The only other player on the injury report for the Jaguars was defensive lineman Jeremiah Ledbetter who missed a practice this week for personal reasons, but didn’t get an injury designation Friday.

For the Texans, three players will be out of action Sunday due to injury and another three are questionable.

Wide receiver Noah Brown leads the NFL in yards per reception at 20.9, but he’s played in just five games. He was also out of action when the Texans came to EverBank Stadium to play the Jaguars in Week 3.

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Doug Pederson: K’Lavon Chaisson roughing penalty ‘was the right call’

Doug Pederson doesn’t think the costly roughing the passer penalty on K’Lavon Chaisson was a bad call.

It’s hard to imagine what Jacksonville Jaguars outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson could’ve done to avoid a penalty in the final seconds of the third quarter Sunday.

After chasing down the Tennessee Titans’ backpedaling quarterback Will Levis, Chaisson — along with teammate Roy Robertson-Harris — forced an errant throw with a hit to the rookie passer. But instead of another third down stop for the Jaguars, the play resulted in a first down for the Titans when officials decided Chaisson landed on Levis with his full weight.

It was a call that baffled many viewers and frustrated fans at EverBank Stadium, but coach Doug Pederson said Monday that he wasn’t too bothered by the penalty.

“It’s tough, it’s tough on those guys because they’re trying to make a play and get the quarterback on the ground — it’s unfortunate,” Pederson said. “I think it was the right call at that time. They’ve got to do the best they can to try to either peel off to the side or try to brace yourself with your arms off the quarterback, things of that nature, and do the best you can.”

In 2018, the NFL’s definition of roughing the passer was amended to read, “A rushing defender is prohibited from committing such intimidating and punishing acts as ‘stuffing’ a passer into the ground … the defensive player must strive to wrap up the passer with the defensive player’s arms and not land on the passer with all or most of his body weight.”

Chaisson has recorded two sacks this season and is due to become a free agent in 2024.

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Tyson Campbell out, Zay Jones questionable vs. Titans

The Jaguars ruled out two and listed four players, including Zay Jones, as questionable.

The Jacksonville Jaguars ruled out return specialist Jamal Agnew and cornerback Tyson Campbell for a Week 11 contest against the Tennessee Titans and listed another four players as questionable.

The statuses of wide receiver Zay Jones, offensive tackle Anton Harrison, defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris, and wide receiver Parker Washington are all up in the air.

Jones, who has been in the headlines this week after his Monday arrest, has been out of action since re-injuring his knee in Week 5.

With Campbell out of action, the Jaguars will turn to second-year cornerbacks Montaric Brown and Gregory Junior to fill the void. The absence of Agnew will likely mean Washington is activated from the injured reserve Saturday to take over return duties.

The Titans ruled out three players and listed two as questionable. Cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting and offensive tackle Andre Dillard are the two most significant losses for Tennessee.

Dillon Radunz is expected to be the starting left tackle Sunday in Dillard’s place.

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Jaguars still have 2 out, 4 limited in Thursday practice

The Jaguars didn’t make any changes to their injury report from Wednesday to Thursday.

The Jacksonville Jaguars made no updates to their injury report from Wednesday to Thursday, listing the same two players as non-participants and four players as limited ahead of a Week 11 game against the Tennessee Titans.

Return specialist and wide receiver Jamal Agnew wasn’t dressed for practice, but cornerback Tyson Campbell joined the team for stretching before leaving to work on the side.

It’d be surprising if wide receiver Zay Jones, who was limited again, is back on the field Sunday after sitting out for more than a month with a knee injury. The other three limited players seem on track to play against the Titans.

For Tennessee, there were a few updates and all in the wrong direction. Linebacker Chase Campbell was placed on injured, reserve, cornerback Anthony Kendall didn’t practice at all, and linebacker Luke Gifford was limited.

While three key players — Derrick Henry, DeAndre Hopkins, and Denico Autry — were all listed, it was just a rest day for the trio of veterans.

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Jamal Agnew, Tyson Campbell sit out Wednesday practice

Two Jaguars players sat out Wednesday and four, including receiver Zay Jones, were limited.

The Jacksonville Jaguars were without return specialist Jamal Agnew and cornerback Tyson Campbell at Wednesday practice and had four players limited.

On a rainy day in Jacksonville that forced the team inside the Miller Electric Center practice facility, offensive lineman Anton Harrison, wide receiver Zay Jones, defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris, and wide receiver Parker Washington were all limited.

Jones was arrested Monday on a domestic battery charge, but was back at practice two days later as he continues to work to return from a knee injury.

Washington has been on injured reserve since suffering a knee injury in Week 4, but his 21-day window to return was opened Wednesday morning.

The Jaguars’ Week 11 opponent, the Tennessee Titans, listed 11 players on their injury report, although that included six who practiced fully.

The Titans’ offensive line has been banged up for much of the year and is now hoping starting left tackle Andre Dillard will return from a concussion suffered in Week 10. Wide receiver Treylon Burks missed the team’s last game due to a concussion.

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Jaguars PFF grades: Best and worst performers vs. Texans

Trevor Lawrence had another good day, according to PFF, but it was largely spoiled by his receiving corps.

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day in Week 3 against the Houston Texans was highlighted by mistakes and errors.

Despite racking up more than 400 yards of total offense, the Jaguars offense was bogged down by a pair of turnovers, dropped passes, and untimely penalties. The Jacksonville defense and special teams blew it too with critical mistakes that led to massive plays for the Texans.

The grades at Pro Football Focus reflect a day that saw a few decent showings from Jaguars players drowned out by a ton of weak performances.

Here are the Jacksonville players who stood out and struggled most on Sunday, according to PFF: