JACKSONVILLE – This was Brian Thomas Jr.'s moment.

It came late in a crucial early-season Jaguars victory Sunday, changing the game's momentum and reshaping what began as a frustrating day for Thomas and ended as a memorable one.

Thomas was clutch late, and that trumped all else.

"You have to keep fighting," Thomas said.

Thomas, after struggling with drops for a second consecutive week, caught a laser pass over the middle from quarterback Trevor Lawrence on the first play after the two-minute warning and turned it into a 46-yard catch-and-run that set up the game-winning touchdown in 17-10 Jaguars victory over the Houston Texans at EverBank Stadium Sunday afternoon.

"That was a statement, for sure," Thomas said.

The Texans allowed running back Travis Etienne Jr. to score on a 10-yard run on the ensuing play for a 7-point Jaguars lead, with safety Antonio Johnson intercepting Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud at the Jaguars 4-yard line with :20 remaining to secure the victory.

"Huge," Head Coach Liam Coen called Thomas' reception, with Lawrence calling Thomas' late reception an example of the next-play mentality showed by the offense Sunday.

"It was awesome," Lawrence said.

Lawrence on first-and-10 from the Jaguars 44 just after the second-half two-minute warning checked out of a called run because the Texans showed pressure with no safety help in the middle of the field. Thomas caught a well-thrown pass from Lawrence beyond cornerback Kamari Lassiter, with Lassiter chasing and pushing Thomas out of bounds at the Texans 10.

"A huge play and a big-time moment," Coen called it, with Lawrence saying: "Brian just did a great job of winning and making the play. That's what I told him on the sideline. 'Hey, stay in it, you're going to end up making the play to set this one up for us to go win it.' And it happened."

Said Thomas, "I had like a little skinny route. I ran my route and saw the safety shoot down. Trevor threw me the ball, and I took off with it. Trevor canned the play. I had a 10-yard in route and safety ended up driving on it so I was able to catch the ball and make a play."

Thomas, a Pro Bowl selection as a rookie last season, dropped a pass late in a 31-27 loss to Cincinnati Bengals last week. He caught 2 passes for 55 yards Sunday, with 6 targets and at least 1 key drop on a third-and-3 from the Jaguars 32 early in the fourth quarter.

He also had a chance at long reception down the left sideline in the first quarter but couldn't retain possession after leaping high for the pass.

"It was like every time he had an opportunity to almost get things rolling, something negative occurred," Coen said. "So, just talked to him in the locker room and really proud of the way he finished. We have to get it cleaned up, but he should absolutely take confidence from that play and be able to continue to go forward."

Said Thomas, "It's a 60-minute game; it's a long game. You have to keep fighting. My teammates had my back the whole game. I feel like you have to keep fighting out there. Everything is not going to go your way all the time, so you have to keep fighting and that's what happens when you keep fighting."

NOTABLE WEEK 3 MOMENTS

• The Jaguars, after entering the game first in the NFL in rushing at 169.5 yards a game and 5.7 yards a carry, rushed for 86 yards and 2 touchdowns Sunday on 24 carries. They rushed for 75 yards on 18 second-half carries.

"Early in the first half, we had a bunch of runs called and then they had some blitzes and different looks," Coen said.

"They came out in a five-big package to our 12 personnel, which was un-scouted. We needed to adjust to that at halftime, which we did. We were able to get it going a little bit, thought our coaches did a nice job adjusting, communicating those adjustments, and being able to get some dirty yards in the second half when we needed to run the ball."

QUOTABLE PRESS CONFERENCE MOMENTS

• Coen on Lawrence checking out of a run on the 46-yard pass to Thomas: "He gets out of it, fixes the protection, picks it up and then we execute the skinny that he had in there and BTJ comes ripping in the window. He delivers it on time. It was a very frustrating outing in a lot of ways, man, but I'm hoping and we're hopeful that a moment like 'this' can maybe do this for us and help us go to the next level in terms of understanding truly what it takes to throw and catch at a consistent level."