JACKSONVILLE – These weeks are as tricky as they are short.

The AFC South-leading Jaguars (5-2) will visit the Baltimore Ravens (4-4) at MT&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md., Thursday – and the nature of Thursday games makes this a challenging week.

"Short weeks" are tough for NFL teams. Preparation is limited. Padded practice is essentially impossible – and not only is game-planning time reduced, practices are walkthrough and basic in nature.

While that often means Thursday games feel different from "normal" games, they count the same – and Thursday is a critical game for a Jaguars team that needs to maintain the momentum and confidence gained in a one-sided victory over the Indianapolis Colts this past Sunday.

The Jaguars will be favored, maybe heavily, because the Ravens will be without quarterback Lamar Jackson – and backup Tyler Huntley – and because the Jaguars have played well enough this season to merit being road favorites over good, contending teams.

That favorite status doesn't make the game easy, and not just because of Jackson's absence. The Jaguars must play well to win and must successfully navigate a tricky week.

Here are 10 things the Jaguars must do to do that:

1. Run to win. This has been, is and will continue to be No. 1 for the Jaguars under Head Coach Liam Coen. The Jaguars have steadily improved here this season and appear trending toward being a dominant running team. The more they trend toward that, the better for this offense.
2. Just be Trevor. Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence is playing at the highest level of his career, with 32 touchdown passes and five interceptions in his last 13 regular-season games. That's absurdly good and it's also as high a level as any quarterback in the NFL. He's efficient, confident and spectacular at times. If he keeps being himself, that's winning football.
3. Be physical. When the Jaguars are the more the physical team under Coen, they usually are the better team. They also usually win. Game plans usually aren't exotic on Thursday. That means basic stuff. For the Jaguars under Coen, nothing's more basic than out-physical-ing and out-toughing the opponent,
4. Stop the run. This is the Jaguars' defense's superpower and it must continue to be – even without nose tackle DaVon Hamilton, now out for the rest of the season with a quadriceps injury. The Ravens figure to emphasize running back Derrick Henry. Without Jackson, stopping Henry is Priority No. 1 for the defense.
5. Keep it simple. With game-planning time reduced, Thursday games are more about executing relatively simple plans more than out-scheming opposition. The key for the Jaguars Thursday is doing what they do well better than the Ravens, who will be trying to do the same thing. Lawrence should give them an edge here. They must take advantage of that edge.
6. Pressure the passer. Rookie free agent Joe Fagnano is expected to make his first NFL start Thursday. He completed 10 of 21 passes for 91 yards and no touchdowns with an interception in a loss to the Buffalo Bills last week. Pressure, pressure, pressure.
7. Step up. The Jaguars not only lost Hamilton for the season this week, they lost starting safety Eric Murray to a season-ending elbow injury. All teams sustain injuries, but they're getting numerous and serious around the Jaguars – particularly defensively. Jaguars coaches and players spoke this week of a next-man-up mentality. That's an NFL cliché, but that's also the only mentality in this situation.
8. Feed P-Dub. Wide receiver Parker Washington caught just one pass for 16 yards in the Jaguars' 42-7 victory over the Colts last Sunday. That was in large part because Lawrence only threw 14 passes in what quickly became a one-sided victory. Thursday likely will be closer, which means big plays in big moments – prime-time, high-profile, winning moments – will be needed. No Jaguars player this season has come up bigger in big moments more consistently than Washington.
9. Protect Lawrence. If there was an area of concern against Indianapolis, it was that Lawrence was under pressure a bit too often. He was sacked three times, fumbling once. That's not a crisis, but it's an area the Jaguars must improve Thursday.
10. Just win. Style points never matter in the NFL and they matter less on Thursday games. Thursday may be clunky and inefficient at times. There may be more mistakes than usual. None of it matters. Just win, get on the plane and get home.