JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
Kaydie from Riverside, Jacksonville
Do you get the sense that Chris Rodriguez Jr. and Bhayshul Tuten will split the lead running back duties roughly 50/50 or do you anticipate one of the two assuming the "lead" role and taking a larger portion of the carries?
Jaguars 2026 Training Camp opens in late July at the Miller Electric Center, and this will be among the top storylines. I sense many observers and fans expect Tuten – a fourth-round selection by the Jaguars in the 2025 NFL Draft – to be the primary back. And I sense many fans and observers expect Rodriguez – who signed as restricted free agent from the Washington Commanders this offseason – to be predominantly a "short-yardage" back. I'm not sure either will be the case. Among the reasons the Jaguars signed Rodriguez: His consistency getting yards after contact and his efficiency running. Those factors matter because they should mean the Jaguars being in more manageable situations more consistently on second and third down. That means Rodriguez should be playing a lot on early downs. That's a long-winded way of saying I expect Rodriguez to be a major factor on first downs and therefore to be essentially sharing a lead role with Tuten in a lot of situations.
Scott from Jacksonville
I turned off the game after our guy got red-carded. If a player can get kicked out of a game and suspended for the next one for accidentally stepping on another player's ankle, it's not a game I can stand to watch – even at its highest level – anymore.
You're referencing the United States Men's National Team's 2-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina Wednesday in the Round of 32 in the 2026 World Cup. You're specifically referencing a very questionable second-half "red card" that resulted in Folarin Balogun – the USMNT's leading scorer in this tournament – leaving the game. It also means he won't play Monday in a Round of 16 game against Belgium. It was at best a questionable call, as Balogun appeared in no way to have been acting intentionally. When it comes to not watching the sport because of that call … to each his own, I guess. Still, I don't know that soccer – or as Mrs. O-Zone now calls it, "futbol," – is alone when it comes to missed calls and gray areas. Futbol/soccer fans unfamiliar with the NFL might find it unusual that what looks like essentially the same act might get called for pass interference or holding on one play and not another. Sports happen fast. Officiating, even at its highest level, is not a profession easily given to perfection.
Fred from Naples, FL
Happy Bobby Bonilla Day!
OK.
Rick from Jacksonville
We're getting near the end of this "final initial" crap. What are you going to do with all your free time? Oh … and what about "V?"
We are indeed nearing the end of our discussion of all-time Jaguars players with specific last initials. What will I do with all my free time? Read, perhaps. Or jauntily stroll through a garden while sipping seltzer and sniffing flowers. I'm open to suggestions here, though – perhaps ironically – I likely will ignore them. As for players with last name starting with "V," only three all-time Jaguars players fit the description: Center Steve Vallos (2012), offensive lineman Cole Van Lanen (2022-present) and tight end Matt Veldman (2012). We'll go with CVL here, obviously.
Scott from Gilbert, AZ
Zone, in response to Mike from Daytona Beach's question regarding the Jags' defense preparing for 12 and 13 personnel, I believe Jalen Huskey was drafted as the ideal fit for "big" nickel. While I agree with the Mel Kipers of the world that there were quicker safeties with better top-end speed at Pick No. 100, and understand why NFL.com's Lance Zierlein projected him in Rounds 6-7 with a prospect grade of 5.83 based on traditional safety skill requirements -- simply because the need to better evaluate big nickel attributes is a relatively new phenomenon; his size, length, ball skills and more than adequate speed to defend tight ends in conjunction with his willingness as a run defender provide the perfect mix to serve alongside Antonio Johnson when defending 13 personnel.
Yep.
Daniel from Urbandale
"By having good safeties who can help neutralize bigger tight ends in the passing game. That's a start." Does this mean getting bigger safeties? Seems like a problem is that tight ends are usually HUGE and safeties not so much?
Perhaps.
Scott from Gilbert, AZ
Zone, I know you don't read everything posted about the Jags, that our operational triumvirate would like to groom offensive coordinator Grant Udinski's replacement for next year and that General Managers James Gladstone, Executive Vice President of Football Operations Tony Boselli and Head Coach Liam Coen have earned some benefit of doubt. But Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears writers are throwing serious shade at the Shane Waldron promotion after he did nothing to get the ball to Jaxson Smith-Njigba as offensive coordinator in Seattle, oversaw the least productive offense in the league while offensive coordinator in Chicago, and whose passing game leadership with the Jags last year led to a decline in wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr.'s production by asking him to do things he's not good at like working the middle of the field in traffic – and by not creating the opportunities that made him great in 2024 when he ran more vertical and out routes in conjunction with his impressive bubble screen yards after catch. Do you see Waldron as heir apparent to the offensive coordinator when Udinski accepts a head coaching position elsewhere – and if so, what in your estimation might make him the choice over someone with a better track record of success in that role?
Coen recently promoted Waldron from pass-game coordinator to assistant head coach/pass-game coordinator. Perhaps he will be the offensive coordinator if Udinski leaves after the 2026 season. Perhaps not. There's an entire season to play before that likely will be an issue – and an entire season is a long time in the NFL. What would make Waldron the choice? If Coen deems it as such, I suppose. Coen runs the offense in Jacksonville. It's his scheme and he knows it better than anyone. He's also the play-caller. This is not to say the offensive coordinator is unimportant. It is to say Coen probably knows as much – perhaps even more – about how to run it than shade-throwing writers.
Paul from St. Augustine, FL
On abbreviations: "Excuse me, sir. Seeing as how the V.P. is such a V.I.P., shouldn't we keep the P.C. on the Q.T.? 'Cause if it leaks to the V.C. he could end up M.I.A., and then we'd all be put on K.P."
O.K.
Kenneth from Jacksonville
Who's the best player in Jaguars history to don No. 61?
We are knee deep in the land of linemen here, with possibilities including offensive lineman Dan Connolly (2015), defensive tackle Emarlos Leroy (1999), center Darryl Williams (2022), center Stefen Wisniewski (2015) and offensive lineman Sal Wormley (2025-2026). Thank you.
Pedal Bin IFOTY25 from Farnborough, Hampshire, UK
Oh Mighty 'O' / King Of All Funk, in response to Mike from Daytona Beach, FIFA did try an experiment with an "overtime, first to score wins" with the "Golden Goal" introduced in 1993. In a knockout competition, following a draw after ninety minutes, two fifteen-minute periods of extra time would be played. If either team scores a goal during extra time, the game ended immediately with the scoring team the winner; the winning goal was known as the "Golden Goal." If no goal was scored after both periods of extra time, a penalty shoot-out would then decide the game. The Golden Goal was last used in a FIFA World Cup in 2002. FIFA hoped the Golden Goal would encourage more attacking play in the extra time periods, however the opposite occurred and led to more cautious play along with furious reactions from players on the losing side. UEFA tried the "Silver Goal" in European Competitions which was similar to the Golden Goal but if a team was leading after the first fifteen-minute half of extra time, it was the winner, but the game did not end the instant a team scored as under the Golden Goal rule. Although both the Golden Goal and Silver Goal had their fans, both were widely perceived as failed experiments. In February 2004 both the Golden Goal and Silver Goal were removed from the Laws of the Game. You can see the parallels with the overtime in the NFL. It used to be first to score wins (Golden Goal), now both teams get a chance to possess the ball (sort of Silver Goal). Either way one team wins and they think it is great, the other loses and it is a rubbish way to decide a game. Bottom line, win the game in regulation time!
I did not know this. Now, I do.
