JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
Josh from Atlanta, GA
Alrighty, John. We (almost) made it. From the start of the league year, to our free agency frenzy, the draft, the dog days of summer and the dead zone. Finally here. With all of these in the rear view, how would you assess everything to date? I know you have written about all of it ad nauseum, but as a whole, how does it all look? We are in for a very memorable season through this lens.
We are two days from the Jaguars opening the 2026 regular season against the Cleveland Browns at EverBank Stadium Sunday, so what better time to recap "as a whole how does it all look" for the good guys? To recount a few months of "ad nauseums," my overall view of the Jaguars entering '26 is that this feels like a rapidly maturing – and very professional – football team. In its second season under Head Coach Liam Coen, it is a group that feels like it hears Coen's message – and responds to it – quickly and professionally. That matters very much and was evidenced by the team responding to a rough practice against the New Orleans Saints during '26 training camp by steadily improving and looking very good in later joint practices against the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Buccaneers. This team therefore came out of camp absolutely feeling ready for the real thing. Couple that preparation with Coen being a high-end play-caller, quarterback Trevor Lawrence steadily ascending and a roster feeling really good at multiple positions – and no worse than solid at most – and you have a formula for a reliable contending team. None of that guarantees success because this is professional football and professional football is very hard. Injuries happen and sometimes close games don't go your way. But this feels like a steady team that will persevere through adversity and win consistently. That is how it feels. That is the prognosis. What will be the reality? Tune in Sunday at 1 p.m.
Alex VanDyke from Shawnee, KS
O. As we approach Week 1, the following week is always full of perfectly reasonable and accurate reactions and predictions for the rest of the year. Outside of the game result, what (if anything) do you see in a Week 1 game that truly matters come January? Thank you, almighty one. P.S. Myles Jack Wasn't Down, Kai.
The NFL because of its 17-game schedule and long stretches between games is a league of overreactions. That is true every week, and it is perhaps a biiiiiit truer following Week 1. Observers and fans forget that no NFL team has finished the season undefeated in 54 seasons and "good teams" lose to "bad teams" all the time. That does not mean Week 1 doesn't "truly matter." It does mean that struggling or dominating in Week 1 guarantees nothing and teams almost always look much different in December than September.
Cameron from St Johns, FL
Mr. O: Predicting a dramatic falloff is "laziness?" I will give you eight reasons we can have a "falloff." Turnover regression. Only six games in the 904. Did not address a poor pass rush. A 6-2 record in one-score games last year. A 9-1 record down the stretch against backup quarterbacks and teams that quit. Panned draft class by all accounts. Net free-agent losses to the roster. Houston addressed running back, offensive line and has healthier wide receivers now. How confident are you that the team can overcome all of those concerns and get to the 11 wins it will likely take to make the playoffs?
Quite.
Nicholas from Fort Hood, TX
KOAF: Two quick questions. 1. Does Week 1 of the NFL start with or conclude on the game on Sunday and does Week 2 in the NFL officially start after all Week 1 games are completed or does each team start their new week after their game? 2. When it comes to game clock operations, when a clock is reset by the referee i.e. set to one second does that mean after the first hundredths of a second the visible clock will display 0:00 but in reality there can be up to 0.99 seconds still remaining. I only ask after the fiasco in college football on Saturday.
One: Week 1 ends when the Monday Night game that week ends and Week 2 begins with the first game after that. Two: NFL game clocks do not show tenths of seconds, so if it comes to that level of detail, gray areas are certainly possible.
Sandy from Jacksonville
I would like to have confirmation about Parker Washington's team placement status.
I don't know what "team placement status" means. Wide receiver Parker Washington is under contract with the Jaguars, and I expect him to start on Sunday and most likely return punts.
Chris from Mandarin
The Jaguars' secondary is a unit that is probably undervalued by most outsiders observing the team. I was surprised, however, to see on ESPN – last week, I believe – that the secondary was top five in passes defensed last season, in addition to having a high number of interceptions in relation to the rest of the league. If safeties Caleb Ransaw and Rayuan Lane III are the upgrades to the safety position that we hope, then the secondary as a whole with the addition of what I think is a very good crop of corners will lead to more sacks, passes defensed, interceptions and fumbles through the season. That's the hope, anyway.
Indeed it is.
Bradley from Death Valley, CA
Congratulations to Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator and first-year play-caller, Brian Fluery. This coach did something I have been talking about for a few years now. He called a quick slant to JSN on fourth-and-1 from a run formation trailing 10-3 with 11 minutes remaining. It went for a touchdown and changed the game. It did not fail but even if it did, how loose do you think the next defensive will play Seattle on a fourth-and-short? It gets tiring watching these bold, analytically- correct new wave coaches go for it on fourth-and-1 only to call the most conservative play in their book. This is something that every professional poker player knows but seemingly only one NFL play-caller knows. The defense must know there is, at the very least, the threat to pass. One fer Brian Fluery.
Fluery apparently made a nice, gutsy play-call in the Seattle Seahawks' Week 1 victory over the New England Patriots Wednesday. I don't know that it is entirely accurate to depict Fluery as the only coordinator in NFL history to pass on fourth-and-short, though it certainly seems to have touched Bradley in a spot that matters. Good on Fluery. And on Bradley, I suppose.
Tom from Sanford
Watched the Patriots/Seahawks game. Was it choreographed by Joss Whedon?
I don't have any idea what this means and the fastest google search I have ever done makes me think I am more than OK with that.
Tom from Charlottesville, VA
In the Seattle game clutch receiving was responsible as much for the win as the defensive back interceptions, in my opinion. My question is who exhibits the most "clutch" traits on the Jags' receiving corps? They are all very good to excellent, but who is the Jags' Cooper Kupp?
Washington and wide receiver Jakobi Meyers are in the conversation.
Tym from Southside
O-Zone, should we expect a lot of penalties in our matchup against the Browns on Sunday? Early-season games always seemed to be plagued with yellow flags. In the New England Patriots-Seattle Seahawks bout, we saw a combined 17. It often makes for slower, defensive games because offensive drives are frequently killed before they ever get started. Are the players rusty coming out of the offseason? Are the referees overzealous in their calls? A combination of both? And what's your Over-Under prediction on 17 combined penalties in our upcoming game?
Front-line players play less in the NFL preseason than once was the case. That probably contributes to this phenomenon. But no matter how much you play in the preseason, an NFL regular-season game is played at a pace and intensity you can't replicate outside of the regular season. I expect that's the main reason NFL Week 1 is often sloppier than, say, Week 10. I don't have any idea how many penalties the Jaguars and Browns will commit Sunday. I expect the Jaguars' offense will be cleaner than it was early last season because it has had a season under Coen and it would stand to reason that that experience would mean functioning a bit smoother before the snap.
JAY from THE BURG, FL
Crazy things happen every week in the NFL. Only the best teams have the heart and the cardio to go, all out all the time, for 60 minutes every game. Are the Jaguars ready to belong in that conversation? Start fast, finish faster. Go Jags!
Jay remains ready for some football.
