JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …

Jami from Claxton, GA

Why does it seem that there are far less penalties called in the playoffs than during the regular season? The flow of the game is much better. Let them play!

My early "figurin'" when considering this question was there indeed were a few fewer penalties per game during the Divisional Round this past weekend than during the regular season – "figurin'" that was more "googlin'" than scientific "figurin.'" Whatever the exact numbers, the playoffs from this view still suffer from the same officiating issue as the regular season – that defensive pass interference is still called waaaaay too often. This has become increasingly the case in recent seasons – to the point that you now hold your breath after every incomplete pass over 10 yards assuming there will be a flag if a defender is remotely close to making a play on the ball. This has created an over-officiated feel that from this view is influencing the game too much. I'm aware that I'm shouting at clouds here, and I'm equally aware that the offense-centric NFL isn't going to change how interference is called. It's just a little too much from this view. Get off my lawn.

Chris from Norfolk

My gut is telling me Strange, Lloyd, and Parker will return and we lose Johnson. What's your gut telling you?

Jaguars tight end Brenton Strange, wide receiver Parker Washington and safety Antonio Johnson are all under contract for the 2026 season – and I expect the Jaguars to work on extending the contracts of Strange and Washington this offseason. This is not to say they will not work on extending Johnson. They love how he played this past season and want him as part of the organization. I just don't have the feel for his situation as I do the others. Linebacker Devin Lloyd is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the start of the 2026 NFL League Year on March 11. I would be surprised if he returns considering his position and likely market value. Very surprised. This does not mean the Jaguars have made a decision regarding Lloyd. Or that the Jaguars don't want to re-sign Lloyd. It simply means I would be surprised if it happens.

Joel from Mandarin

Great and Powerful O. Damn, I have to say this. It's nice to see that win against the Jags last week means nothing now for the Buffalo Bills and quarterback Josh Allen still can't make it to a Super Bowl – just like Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Jags would've been the best team to knock out Denver in the Divisional round considering what the Jags did to Denver during the regular season! No one can deny these facts!

Nothing warms this old sportswriter's heart quite like a nice dollop of postseason pettiness. Sports are awesome. Fans are awesome-er.

Marc from St Augustine, FL

Well, O. Even the great Josh Allen can't outrun the bear all the time.

Apparently.

Scott from Jacksonville

What's a reserve/futures contract mean?

A reserve/future contract is an offseason agreement – usually signed shortly following the end of the previous season – with players who didn't finish the season on the 53-player roster. The players become part of the team's 90-player offseason roster at the start of the NFL League Year in March. It's a way for players who weren't on the 53-player roster to be involved in the offseason program and prepare for training camp – and therefore have a chance to make the team. It also allows the team to have depth for the offseason and training camp with no salary-cap ramifications and minimal expense.

Ted from Marineland

Can you explain Reserve/Futures contracts?

Yes.

JP from Phoenix, AZ

Has anyone with the team asked the offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator if they want to be a head coach for another team? Is an interview for another position just a courtesy or practice for the future?

Offensive coordinator Grant Udinski and defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile certainly aspire to be NFL head coaches. Why in the world wouldn't they? Interviews are not courtesies or practice for the future. They're interviews that end in a candidate getting a position if both sides believe it's the right fit.

Ken from Jacksonville

Why don't (or do they?) NFL teams have exclusive, non-compete, guaranteed contracts with offensive and defensive coordinators?

Offensive and defensive coordinators can't move laterally, meaning coordinators under contract with one team can't become coordinators with other teams. Why don't teams have contracts preventing coordinators from becoming head coaches? Because it wouldn't be right. And because why would coordinators sign such contracts?

Stephen from Sec 113 from Jacksonville via Pennsauken,NJ

As an original season-ticket holder, we have to worry about sustainability. I feel "cautiously optimistic" that the current management structure, and the core roster gives us room to believe we might have another successful season next year. Only time will tell on that. How strongly do you believe that we can sustain the gains we made this year into the future?

Strongly.

Brian from Round Rock, TX

How's the cap? I get the sense that we have to let key players go because we can't afford them, not because they don't "fit." Replacing top talent with later than first-round rookies doesn't exactly qualify as improvement. Was this roster the best we will have in the next few years?

The Jaguars currently are currently projected $4.7 million over the salary cap for 2026, a number that will change dramatically as the start of the League Year approaches. I expect the Jaguars to allow a well-known player or two to leave via unrestricted free agency this offseason – just as I expect most NFL teams to allow well-known player to leave via unrestricted free agency most offseasons. These departures undoubtedly will create a perception among some readers – particularly those based in Texas – that the roster has gotten worse. This perception ignores the reality that young players on NFL rosters develop/improve and it also ignores the reality that the team will sign free agents to fit its approach moving forward, but perception ignoring reality isn't exactly an uncommon occurrence in these parts.

Jon from St. Augustine, FL

If you could handpick one area the Jags greatly improve this offseason, which would it be? I feel like we would greatly benefit from improving the interior pass rush. Easier said than done, I understand. Grab the big guys early and often, can never have too many of 'em. Go Jags.

Interior pass rush would be up there.

Johhny from Jax

Zone, can Parker, Brenton and Antonio – and for that matter, the rest of the 2023 draft class – legally not get extensions until the official start of the new League Year?

Contracts for drafted NFL players can be altered and renegotiated following the final game of their third regular season.

Ripley from Bunnell, FL

The word is consistency. It has eluded the Jaguars for pretty much 25 years of their existence aside from a four-year stretch with then Head Coach Tom Coughlin in the 1990s and a four-year stretch in the 2000s with Head Coach Jack Del Rio. Can this staff and leadership group finally create a pocket that will not only lead to wins, but to postseason success?

That's the goal.

Reese from Loyal Jaguar Fan in VA

Suppose it was gas, as you suspected – nevertheless, it still feels good. Hypothetically asking if you would take the same score from the Wild Card game and apply it to the AFC Championship Game, would we all feel a little better?? We just had to draw the Bills in the opening round! On to the offseason!! Go Jags!!!

I don't know how we would all feel if this was the case. The Jaguars lost in the AFC Wild Card Playoff. There are people who believe that makes the season a failure. That's true only if the only measure of success in the NFL is winning the Super Bowl. People can measure that way if they like. It's a very severe and unrealistic measure. Fans fan. It's what they do.

Anita from Springfield

The disrespect continues, and the laziness astounds. You literally just need to look at box scores for this one ...anyway, direct quote from NFL.com about Broncos "After a stellar 14-win season that saw just three losses, all by one score..."

It's as if it never happened. Weird.

Scott from Atlantic Beach, FL

When you lose by three points, and you had an easy chance at securing three points, you simply made the wrong decision. Being aggressive is great, but can't we acknowledge being aggressive isn't always the correct decision. Rookie coach made the wrong choice. Points in a tight playoff game are valuable.

You're right. The good play calls are the ones that work. The bad ones are the ones that don't. Before, now and always.

Michael from Orange Park, FL

The playoffs suck when you're team's not in it. It's not the same.

Yes, they do. No, it's not.