JaguarsTalk: Do the Jaguars have a Run Defense?

JaguarsTalk: QB Controversy and a problem the defense better have solved by Friday night

I’m confused. The Jaguars have Trevor Lawrence listed as their starter on the depth chart. We are pretty sure, it’s safe to say, that there’s no question that having a generational QB who is bound to change the franchise forever and always, ala Tom Brady, is probably the best bet at being the starter. Might have gone a wee bit far, but I think you get the point. Then there is C.J. Beathard, an injured back-up whom I guess is so very good that even in an injured state he is better than Jake Luton or Kyle Sloter. Wait, Kyle who? 

Kyle Sloter, the guy who had the only touchdown pass in Jacksonville's opening preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders. Sloter was 13-25 for 127 yards and a TD pass to Nathan Cottrell (who also had a pretty darn good game and consequently got released. What?) Kyle Sloter, the guy who was named a USFL All-Star. Kyle Sloter, the quarterback who has his USFL uniform in the NFL Hall of Fame (I swear I saw that on some telecast at some point, yet I can’t find a picture of it anywhere now, but I’m still rolling with it). This Kyle Sloter, whose stats in the HOF game were slightly better than Jake Luton's, is no longer with Jacksonville. I guess the Jaguars only wanted one player represented in the HOF. Instead, the Jags have re-signed, to a one year contract, EJ Perry. A quarterback that Jacksonville had signed right after the draft and then waived upon injury. A quarterback that isn’t going to make the final roster anyway, so why are the Jags playing musical chairs with fourth string QBs?

Is C.J. hurt worse than we know and Jake is moving up to second string and therefore they would need one of these fourth-in-line guys to actually step into the top tier? Or, is Jake Luton’s job on the line and Pederson and company are trying to find a better replacement than Sloter would have been? Or, and probably the most plausible, with 90 plus players on the team currently Jacksonville just needs more QB arms to throw to all of their wide receivers during training camp. If that is the case, I am happy to lend a throwing arm for a lot less than a one year contract. Comparatively, I cost nothing, I look good in a red jersey and my spiral was tight (no Billy Kilmer wobblers) and on the money in my youth association league days. This just seems like a missed opportunity. Either way, I’m just not sure why Jags brass is spending time playing musical chairs with guys who aren’t going to make the team especially when it seemed like Sloter was good enough to fill a fourth string spot and challenge for the third.

In other Jaguars news, the team has had some pretty “impact”ful practices this week. Maybe it was just time to strap on the pads and have all out, full contact, tackle to the ground, no holds barred practices. Or maybe someone wasn’t too happy with the play on the field at the Hall of Fame game. We all, coaches, fans, owners, passersby etc…understand that this preseason game came with almost no expectations. At least, from a Jacksonville standpoint. From a Vegas standpoint it seemed as though Josh McDaniels wanted that dubya no matter. It was his childhood field, his hometown, a homecoming of sorts for him and he certainly played more for the win than to analyze players who are on the cusp of making the roster. McDaniels started his second string QB, Jarrett Stidham, who is more familiar with his offense than his first string QB, Derek Carr. Stidham has played for McDaniels, in this offense, for years, dating back to his days backing up Tom Brady. Not only did Stidham start in the HOF game but so did starting running back Josh Jacobs. Eventually, Vegas replaced Stidham with third stringer Nick Mullens, however, McDaniels evidently didn’t like Mullens lack of production and put Stidham back in the game. Why? They could have played their fourth string guy. It was very confusing. The only take away was that McDaniels wanted to walk out of Canton with the win at the expense of decent assessments of his bubble players.

Coach Doug Pederson, on the other hand, started a third string QB followed up by a fourth string QB. He also started a third string RB followed up by a fourth stringer (who is no longer with the team, even after scoring the Jags only TD). My point being, Pederson was assessing bubble players. He was getting an understanding of how some (very few) starters were grasping the play book and he was focused on assessing the play of the guys fighting to make the team. Pederson really had no scoreboard expectations. What he did have, however, were execution expectations and the Jaguars failed on two key fronts. They failed at stopping the run and at running the ball themselves. Now, in knowing that the Jaguars failed in these critical areas and also knowing that the Sunday after the game (and to some extent Monday as well) was the hardest hitting, most difficult, one of the longest, and one of the hottest practices to date, is it plausible that a message was being sent. 

The coaches never said they were punishing the team for a poor performance. Maybe punishment is not the correct word, maybe they were putting extra emphasis on the skills necessary to button up the problems they displayed against the Raiders. Whatever you want to call it, the belief of many is that Jacksonville’s inability to execute and stop the run resulted in the kid gloves being removed and the big boy practices beginning. It will be interesting to see Jacksonville’s response to this past week of practice when they face the Cleveland Browns at home this Friday night. I suspect, and I may be very wrong (it happened once, back in 84) that Jacksonville will be a very different team. Yes I believe that we will see Lawrence and Etienne and the rest of the starting offensive line for one series. I also believe we will see the entire starting defense for one series. Be that as it may, the majority of the game is going to be played by those who played last week and those guys better have their game tight. Those are the guys that got the message on Sunday that, while the score really didn’t matter in Canton, their lack of execution absolutely did. This Jacksonville Jaguars team under Doug Pederson and his coaching staff are expected to do their jobs. While Doug Pederson is a very nice guy, he has a very high bar. A Super Bowl champion does not lower his standards for you. You raise yours for him. The unspoken message that was sent this week is to meet and exceed Pederson’s expectations or you won’t play for Jacksonville. Friday night we see who received it.

Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below