There wasn’t much praiseworthy about Jacksonville’s offensive performance on Sunday, but one thing the unit actually did fairly well was protecting quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The Broncos’ edge rushing duo of Von Miller and Bradley Chubb is one of the NFL’s best, and while Cam Robinson and Jawaan Taylor didn’t do a bad job holding their own Week 1, fans still had concerns about how they would fare Week 2 due to the duo’s penalty issues.
In Week 2, they were much better. Lawrence was only sacked once, by Miller, and he had plenty of time to make throws (though that didn’t necessarily correlate with success).
On Monday, coach Urban Meyer said he was pleased with the play of the offensive line, particularly with Robinson and Taylor.
“Our offensive line was very much a positive,” he said. “They kept a nice, solid pocket for him [QB Trevor Lawrence] for the most part. Obviously, against two elite pass rushers, Jawaan Taylor really hung in there. I know we chipped a little bit and helped him, but for the most part, he hung in there. They had one sack and it was on a twist. But straight pass rush, we hung in there really well.
“I was really proud of the offensive line. They put us in position to win the game if we didn’t have a couple other areas where – in the first half, we left two of the touchdowns right there on the field and it’s a whole different ball game if you don’t do that.”
Though Chubb missed a large portion of the game when he exited with an injury, the tackles still held their own against the pass rush for most of the contest.
As fans are aware, both players need big years to solidify their roles moving forward. Robinson was franchise tagged last offseason, and he’s currently making his case for a long-term contract. Taylor, meanwhile, is under contract through 2022, but his play has been inconsistent, and Jacksonville drafted another tackle in the second round this year in Walker Little.
But Robinson and Taylor have been solid through two games, and while it hasn’t correlated with offensive success, it’s definitely a positive sign moving forward.