Florida Sports Wires

  By Jeff Moeller, Florida Sports Wire The Jaguars have a gimme Sunday, and they have to take advantage of it.  Good teams do that. The 4-2 Jags are in that category. They host the reeling 2-5  Colts, who are in the beginning of a massive rebuild, Sunday the Bank, and they need to take advantage of the obvious in front of them. At the time of this writing, running back Jonathan Taylor was still with the team, even though he is expected to be jettisoned soon. Guard Quenton Nelson and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner recently found new homes. General manager Chris Ballard was recently canned, and wide receiver Josh Downs has requested a trade. The Colts have lost three straight, one loss gave Tennessee its first win. Jacksonville has won 11 straight home games against Indianapolis and are 10-point favorites.  This should all add up to an easy Jaguars’ victory Sunday, right? Yet, there is some hesitation in the minds and voices of plenty of Jaguars’ fans. Taylor can st...

  Even though the scenery has changed to London, Jacksonville will face a rival that has caused them plenty of frustration and anxiety over the years. The Jaguars will tangle against the Houston Texans for a morning tea in Wembley Stadium. These are the same 1-4 Texas, who picked up their first win last week against the winless Titans.  They are also the same 1-4 Texans who have been a severe thorn in the 4-1 Jaguars’ paws. Houston has been a true scourge overall, winning 32 of their 48 meetings. Don’t be fooled by their 1-4 record. Houston will be hyped.  Can you say, trap game? This is as perfect an example as any, especially with the Jags coming off their roller-coaster, last-second win over the Eagles week in London’s other stadium in Tottenham.  Yes, the Jags don’t have to look at the Texans twice. They are well aware how they have hunted and trapped the Jags over the years. In other words, they have been the Jaguars’ biggest pain-in-the-you-know-what over the y...

By Jeff Moeller, Jacksonville Sports News Memo to Jaguars’ head coach Liam Coen: Take the points.  Second memo to Coen: Thank God for Cam Little.  Third memo to Coen: Good teams have their share of luck. The football world and most of the rest of the country know what happened in the Jaguars-Eagles' game in London Sunday morning. The dust has settled from across the pond, and reality has surfaced. It also could be a microcosm for the rest of their season. Jacksonville could have lost the game, but they didn’t deserve to lose it. Philadelphia deserved to lose the game, and they did. Instead, they survived a tussle with their share of stars, notably Trevor Lawrecne, Parker Washington, Bhayshul Tuten, and Josh Cameron to name a few.  They walked away from their first of two London weekends with a sense of relief, but also with a stronger sense of fortitude, confidence, and practicality. The undermanned Eagles held more than their own in the fight, and the crowd for a presume...

 By Jeff Moeller, Florida Sports Wire Normally if Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow throws for 414 yards, there’s a very good possibility that his team will win the game, In fact the Bengals accumulated 437 yards of offense. Did the Bengals win? No, in fact, they lost the game in question to the Jaguars, 22-17,  Sunday.  The Jags finally won a game over the Bengals. In the last three meetings, the Bengals won by a winning touchdown with 18 seconds left in the game, a last-second field goal, and an overtime field goal. Sunday’s win was another testament to the Jaguars’ defense that appeared ready to break again in Cincinnati. Rayuan Lane III made a leaping, first-down saving tackle that gave the Jags the win. It was another sign that this defense continues to look like it will be something special. This unit succeeds with a true team effort.  Yet, to the naked eye, their defensive stats can be somewhat deceiving. On paper, the Jags’ defense likely doesn’t look like one that is ...

  By Jeff Moeller, Florida Sports Wire The Jaguars are back. They desperately needed a convincing win and they put one together against the Patriots. Their 35-6 win was a complete one in many ways.  After a bad second half in Denver last week, Jacksonville proved to themselves and their fans that they are legitimate AFC South contenders and can be among the AFC elite.  The Jags looked as good and probably better as they did in their home opener thumping of Cleveland two weeks ago. They had a dominant showing on both sides of the ball against a reeling Patriots’ team that again showed that last year’s Super Bowl run was truly sparked by a soft schedule. Pats’ quarterback Drake Maye proved he can run the ball effectively, but he still needs some fine tuning as a passer with his subpar 14 of 25, 199-yard, two-interception day. In some ways, Maye has mirrored Trevor Lawrence in his early years, but Lawrence had a breakout season in his second year after a lackluster rookie se...

By Jeff Moeller, Florida Sports Wires The Jaguars’ 20-13  loss in Denver Sunday clearly was a game of two halves. It also was an early wake-up call and a stiff reminder. As simple as the cliche suns, you have to play for four quarters, or at least until you have it under control. The Jags thought they had one in the win column in Denver. In the opening half, they were crisp on offense and aggressive on defense. Trevor Lawrence again looked like he was locked in, as he was in the opener in Cleveland. Lawrence was 12 of 17 for 78 yards, and Parker Washington caught six passes.  Their defense was stellar overall, and impressive in their three-down, goal-line stand before Denver settled for a field goal, their lone scoring in the first two quarters. Jourdan Lewis had a photo-op, leaping interception in the corner of the end zone. Cam Little banged home a 44-yard field goal just before halftime, and the Jags sprinted to the locker room with a 10-3 lead that appeared to be larger in...

  By Jeff Moeller JACKSONVILLE (www.jaxsportsnews.com) - Jacksonville Jaguars’ GM James Gladstone made some last-minute eye-popping moves to his team’s final  53-man roster in preparation for their season opener against Cleveland Sept. 13. Trust in Gladstone, Jaguars’ fans. Just when you thought veteran Nick Mullens was going to be the backup to Trevor Lawrence, he wasn’t. Gladstone acquired Miami quarterback and former Texas’ star Quinn Ewers to serve the role for a 2028 sixth-round pick, and Mullens eventually ended up on the practice squad.  This one was a stumper.  Ewers played in four games and threw for 622 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions in between the Tua Tagovailoa saga. He didn’t exactly overwhelm the Dolphins’ brass last season.  Gladstone must have seen something in him. Mullens is still within arm’s reach as well as rookie Joey Aguilar.  The GM also sent  veteran tight end Hunter Long to the Cardinals for a 2028 sevent...

By Jeff Moeller, Florida Spotrts Wire JACKSONVILLE (wwwjaxsportsnews.com ) It’s the end of the preseason tonight, and that also means the cutdown day is within reach.  Sunday is the big day at 4 p.m., and GM James Gladstone and head coach Liam Coen shouldn’t have too many major decisions in their hands. Gladstone likely will swing a deal or two before it is over. One glaring issue - and it is a good problem - is the Jaguars’ wide receiver room. This season, the predominant offensive message will be clear- throw the ball. Heading into the game, the wide receivers on the Jags’ roster are Jakobi Meyers, Brian Thomas Jr., Parker Washington, Travis Hunter, CJ Williams, Josh Cameron, Austin Trammell, Tim Jones, Michael Wortham, Trebor Pena, Ben Patterson, Brady Boyd, and Chandler Brayboy.  For once, the Jags are loaded with wide receivers and tight ends, as they will play hand through their passing game. It has worked well with their running game in transition. This has created a po...

By Jeff Moeller, Florida Sports Wire JACKSONVILLE (www.jaxsportsnews.com) Nick Mullens’ stock rose. Like a stock, you want to see it rise and feel safe about it. And most times, don't touch it. It's just another reminder of the NFL backup quarterback.  After his performance against New Orleans in the preseason opener, Mullens certainly caused some queasy stomachs for Jaguars’ fans.  He was 3-for-7 for 33 yards and an interception. This is the same backup quarterback designated behind Trevor Lawrence. Did you feel good about that? Mullens redeemed himself with a 6-for-7, 65-yard performance against Carolina last week. Probably the most important player behind our starting quarterback is your backup quarterback.  Yes, you can make the argument that a dominant position player is more vital. But how have you felt when Lawrence has been knocked out of a game or has to leave for a number of plays?   Talk about a nervous stomach or agita.  You were probably wonde...

By Jeff Moeller, Florida SportsWire (www.jaxsportsday.com) - It was important to see the Jaguars mount their comeback against the Saints and pull out a 24-20 victory. The game certainly can serve as a motivator as well as ignitor for the rest of the preseason. However, this is preseason where the outcome of the games really doesn't matter. Instead, it’s the old-time adage on how you got there. For the Jaguars, hopefully, it is a true indicator and not just one based on facing second- third-, and fourth-stringers. What the Jaguars need this summer is to establish their running game. Against the Saints, they may have taken the first step. Behind rookie, free agent J’Mari Taylor, the Jags ran for 118 yards on 36 carries. Taylor paced the field with a workmanlike 78 yards on 22 carries.  When you look at 118 yards, it doesn’t seem like much. But the 36 carries are the difference. The heavy-pass offense Jags threw just 25 times behind the backup core of Nick Mullens, Joey Aguilar, and ...

By Don Coble, Florida Sports Wire (www.jaxsportsday.com) There were so many player swaps, especially on the offensive line, during Thursday’s joint practice with the New Orleans Saints that head coach Lian Coen said he couldn’t keep up with the changes. He also said to expect that to continue when Jacksonville opens its preseason schedule against the Saints Saturday, August 15, at the Mercedes Superdome. Kickoff is scheduled at 4 p.m. on ESPN Unlimited. “I couldn’t even tell you who was in at the end, honestly,” Coen said after Thursday’s workout. “It was just a lot of rotating in there, whether it's because of trying to get guys work at different spots in these settings or because we had some guys cramping and had to mix it up.” Coen also plans to step back and observe the entire operation from the sidelines. Coen normally calls the offensive plays, but he will give that headset to Offensive Coordinator Grant Udinksi. That way, the second-year coach can also pay attention to the d...