JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …

Sean from Oakleaf, FL

Last year the Chicago Bears had four wins in the preseason. That success propelled them to five wins in the 2024 regular season.

A great record in the NFL preseason doesn't mean a team will have a good or bad record in the regular season. An awful record in the preseason doesn't mean a team will have a good or bad record in the regular season. There's no correlation just as there is no opposite effect. One has nothing to do with the other whatsoever.

Alex from Kansas City, KS

Although filled with ups and downs, and quite a few naysayers, I have taken for granted the stability at the quarterback position for the last few seasons. It felt like for so long we were wondering who the quarterback would be. It is nice to have a quarterback who you know is the starter and instead debate how good they are. Not taking it for granted while we have it! Is Mark Brunell the longest you had this feeling?

Stability indeed matters a lot at quarterback. You would rather have elite than just OK at the position, but you would rather have above average and stable than to be in the abyss of searching – and re-searching – and hoping to find something close to average each offseason. Trevor Lawrence, while he must improve to reach the status of making the Jaguars a postseason contender each season, has given the Jaguars more stability at quarterback than they have had since the late 2000s with David Garrard. What's the longest I had this feeling? I covered the Indianapolis Colts from 2001-2010. They felt pretty stable at quarterback during that time.

Crash from Glen Saint Mary, FL

Obi Wan! How many wins will it take to win the weak AFC South? My bet is the Jags can do it.

Many observers assume the AFC South will be weak because it was comparatively weak last season. Results from one season don't always translate to the next in the NFL. I expect it will take at least 11 victories to win the South because I expect some division team – perhaps the Houston Texans – will be good enough to win 10.

RY from Orange Park, FL

I have watched several podcasts of the training camp practices and have not seen anyone showing the 7-on-7 or 11-on-11 drills. Is there some rule that podcasters are not allowed to show this?

Yes.

Brian from ROUND ROCK, TX

The reports from the "observers" are bumming me out. I really want to be positive. My first installment of Sunday Ticket just hit, after all. Can you cheer me up?

I assume you're referencing observers commenting and reporting on a Thursday "scrimmage" at Miller Electric Center. It wasn't a great scrimmage, particularly for the offense after a first-drive touchdown. But the offense has had good practices in this camp. So has the defense. How to cheer you up? Considering the source, this might be easier asked than accomplished, but here's my swing at this pitch: Remember that interpreting practice and preseason is often difficult in the NFL. That's because none of this counts until they start keeping score for real.

Rob from St Augustine, FL

Excited to hear Jags will wear Prowlers four times this year. I doubt it will be the case, but can one of those dates be in their away, all-white prowlers? Why or why not? Also, I'm very grateful they won't be wearing those stupid white helmets.

The Jaguars will wear Teal Prowler Throwbacks because those are the alternate uniforms approved by the NFL. White is not.

Hamza from Jacksonville

Who is the biggest and smallest player on the Jags?

Kicker Cam Little is the lightest player, listed at 172 pounds, and rookie running back Bhayshul Tuten is the shortest at 5-feet-9. There are many big players at the Jaguars but tackle Fred Johnson at 6-feet-7 and 326 pounds passes the eye test as the biggest.

Joe from Jacksonville

Responding to a recent email thread that included Derek from Brookings, I was a high school senior and the 44-17 victory over the Colts in 2006 was my second Jaguars game in person. I thought that's how they would all go. Jokes aside, my tickets happened to be behind the Colts sideline, particularly, I was able to watch a very upset/befuddled Peyton Manning, which is one of my favorite all time memories. He wasn't animated, just had the "what the hell is going on" face and mannerisms the entire game. Thanks for bringing that game back to mind.

OK.

Joel from Mandarin, FL

Is there really anything more beneficial to a team who practices, trains and conditions themselves in the hot and humid summer conditions like there are in Florida or the bitter cold Winter conditions like there are in Wisconsin? Does training in those conditions really give any team a certain edge over another team that doesn't when they come to play a game?

Though I have seen a few early-season games in extremely hot weather where it seems the team accustomed to the weather has an advantage, my thought is this is dramatically overplayed. Good teams usually win games and bad teams usually lose them whatever the weather.

Robert from Moorpark, CA

I saw the use of motion, new formations, new play designs and route concepts in the Jaguars' preseason opener. Head Coach Liam Coen's vanilla Week 1 preseason offense is way more fun and entertaining (and less predictable) than Doug's best. See fourth-down conversion. Doug's never running that kind of play, I'm sorry. And it's so simple! That sort of thing was encouraging to me and should be as well to the diehard Jag fans. My favorite play design was actually the one where wide receiver Brian Thomas is a little too vulnerable for taste. The safety just play makes an epic read, other than that, that's a quick-hitting pass over the middle for a chunk of change. And I thought the new regime's guys stood out more than the old regime, but that just could be because most of the old regime is starters and played less.

I think Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen is going to be a creative play-caller – maybe as creative as we've seen around this team in a while. It's also fair to remember that maybe the biggest play of the 2022 season came when former Head Coach Doug Pederson called a sweep out of the old T formation on which running back Travis Etienne Sr. set up the game-winning touchdown. It's always coaching in the NFL.

Bradford from Orange Park, FL

Bro, no way. Beavis is a reader? How dope is that? You think he might be willing to give us a "I need O-Line, for my QB" soundbite? We can play it on the local game call to try and lighten the mood, in the instances that that doesn't happen. Just tell him you were "asking for a friend."

OK.

Josh from Atlanta, GA

Have any rookies stood out to you in speaking to the media? Wondering if any of them have impressed as much as Travis Hunter has to me, verbally speaking.

Rookie running back LeQuint Allen Jr. is very impressive on this and other fronts. So is rookie offensive line Wyatt Milum. This is not to say other rookies aren't impressive on these fronts. I've been around Milum and Allen in a few situations to notice.

John

Hi, KOAGF. With all of this talk the last few days about a Hail Mary pass versus a 70-yard field goal to secure points at the end of the half or the game, the odds are greater for the field goal. Not sure on the percentages of successful Hail Mary passes but, for the Jags, it's a 100 percent success rate for 70-yard field goals so far.

Fair.

JK from NY & Fernandina, FL

John. Future Hall of Famer Fred Taylor gave some great advice to the Jags' rookie class, including: Learn how to be a leader; set your own standard; have a passion to play the game more than the average player; and know the difference between a career and a moment. Fred's speech got me thinking about who on the team has realized these objectives, here is my list: Lawrence, punter Logan Cooke, linebacker Foye Oluokun, defensive end Josh Hines-Allen, safety Andrew Wingard and long snapper Ross Matiscik. Defensive end Travon Walker and right tackle Anton Harrison are close. Did I leave any out? Go Jags!

It's outstanding advice, which isn't surprising coming from a player who parlayed rare talent into a long and elite career at a position where long careers aren't guaranteed. Walker should also be on the list. My sense is a player such as cornerback Jourdan Lewis – who signed as an unrestricted free agent this past offseason – may belong on the list, but I haven't been around him enough to be certain.