JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
Tom from Moncks Corner
At equal points in their careers, former Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles had better numbers than Trevor Lawrence. What makes Bortles a bust and Trevor a "franchise quarterback?"
Many of the statistics Bortles compiled came late in games when the games were already decided. What made Bortles what you call a "bust" was that the Jaguars and other teams decided he couldn't be an NFL starter anymore. I don't know if Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence is or will be a franchise quarterback. I do know he's not a bust.
Don from Marshall, NC
Maybe the Houston Texans will come to the realization that Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. is just a hack and that they can go ahead and leave him in single coverage. I mean, if he is off on a business trip, why worry about him? Go Jaguars!
When it comes to a game plan that would benefit the Jaguars, and when it comes to stating that game plan with his tongue a bit in his cheek, Don remains "all in."
Keith from Saint Augustine, FL
The notion that a receiver can try or not try to catch a pass based on getting hit or not is disgusting to me. I am from a different generation, and if you don't want to get hit playing football, perhaps badminton is your game. The fact that some fans blame Trevor for the gator arm by BTJ interception is stunning and sickening as well. If former Jaguars quarterback Mark Brunell couldn't trust a receiver to catch the ball or run the right route, he didn't throw them the ball (think of Andre "Bad Moon" Rison). I played football with guys that didn't want to get hit. I played with a running back that had 4.3s speed and he would use that ability to run out of bounds as quickly as possible. If Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen wants his team to play tough, perhaps in his conversation with BTJ he might want to bring this up. If I was BTJ's teammate, I would lose a lot of respect for his lack of intestinal fortitude. This is the NFL. Man up!
OK.
Scott from Wichita, KS
How does a quarterback protect a receiver when going across the middle? If a player starts to fear for his safety, when does the NFL take the play out like they did with the kickoff?
Quarterbacks at times can throw the ball in areas to protect a receiver, though the thought here is we have overdone this concept and indeed have forgotten that at some point you're going to get hit playing football. I don't expect the NFL to take throws across the middle out of the game, though it's fair to note that rules changes and emphasis have made going across the middle as a receiver infinitely safer than once was the case.
Richard from Jacksonville
Does Jaguars wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter wear the same shoulder pads on offense and defense? How does this affect play calling? Is it the same play regardless?
Yes. It doesn't. Yes.
Chevin from Riverside, Jacksonville, FL
Are you surprised at how well the Jaguars have stopped the run through two games?
A bit, but only because you never know what to expect from a new regime with a new coordinator and a revamped defense. The Jaguars currently rank seventh in the NFL at 80.5 yards per game rushing. This was a major offseason focus that seems to be paying some dividends. But Did I expect a Top 10 rushing defense? Perhaps not quite.
Rusty from New Iberia, LA
When the offense is on the sideline, they usually are busy looking at their tablets on how the defense is lined up and communicating with each other on how to attack them. Does Hunter miss out on this if he is on the field playing defense?
Yes. This is as big a challenge for Hunter as adapting to the NFL physically.
Byat from Duval
Although the defense got some turnovers, they still allowed 31 points. I don't call that playing good defense.
I don't know that the Jaguars are going to lock down opponents to 14-to-17 points every game this season. If this defense can routinely force turnovers and put the offense in a situation to clinch games late, that usually will be considered good defense for this team.
Dwayne from Jacksonville
If there was a theme to Wednesday's O-Zone, it was "typically unsatisfying to hear." I cannot help but think somewhere in St. Augustine, Gary is smiling.
Let's hope so.
Tanner from Jacksonville
Hi, John. I know we are way past last Sunday's game but I can't seem to get past that Pick Six by linebacker Devin Lloyd when he wasn't down. I saw it as it was happening and then I confirmed it when they did the replay. Isn't somebody watching this on a monitor up close where they could see this? Why in the world didn't Coen throw the red flag. They had time. Had they done a replay what would have been the outcome? Did they blow the whistle where Lloyd seemed to be tackled? Help me, please. I can't believe we had another Miles wasn't down play. Sheeeeeesh!!!
The Jaguars monitor all such plays in all games. Coen didn't challenge the play in question in the fourth quarter of this past Sunday's road loss to the Cincinnati Bengals because officials ruled Lloyd down. Once an official rules a play over, it can't be challenged.
Jimjim from Eugene
Despite the loss, penalties and drops, I really like the aggressive nature the Jaguars are promoting on offense, but especially the defense. I'm a big-box score watcher and I can't recall a time when we could collect 20 passes defensed in two games. What do you typically look at in the box score? Besides the score, of course.
First downs, yards and sacks.
Mike from Azores
Hey John, this is my concern with Lawrence. It's Year 5, and still he makes several plays a game that as an NFL quarterback he should know better by now. Ball security for him is still an issue. He crossed the line of scrimmage by at least three yards and he attempts a pass? But, the real game changer was the end-zone interception. Throwing under duress and giving up the sure three-point field goal would have resulted in a six-point lead instead of three when the choice was easy at the end of the game to go up by nine, game over! I question TL's football intelligence. There have been little inside remarks in the past about his ability to read defenses and get beyond the first or second read. I'm starting to see this as is the behind the scene issue that no one wants to admit! What do you see?
I see that your concerns are fair. Lawrence still needs to make better decisions at times. He is improving in his first season in Coen's offense, and the Jaguars' are pleased and encouraged by his progress. The first-quarter interception Sunday to which would have been very hard to avoid for any quarterback considering the speed Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson reached Lawrence.
Chris from Mandarin
The team paid defensive end Josh Hines-Allen to get sacks and he's not doing it. It's looking more and more like he was just motivated by a contract year.
Not if you're looking at the games.
Steve from Nashville, TN
I just noticed after the London game and the late October bye that the Jags have four road games in five weeks, (two division games in the Central Time Zone, one in the Mountain and one in the Pacific time zone). On the surface it would seem like an exhausting travel schedule for the senior writer (18,500 air miles in that six-game span). Do teams have any say in scheduling road games and travel with the NFL or do they have to accept whatever the NFL says is the schedule?
Teams can communicate wishes to the NFL and make requests. Once the NFL makes the schedule, the NFL has made the schedule.
John from Cape May Court House
For better or worse, this week's game is going to tell us a lot about what kind of player Thomas is. That is all. As you were.
Fair.
J.Hooks from Orange Park, FL
Former Jaguars safety Darnell Savage released? Do we know why? I was under the impression safety was a position we needed all the help we could get? Did he break the rules or something? Find out and get back to me. Stat.
Savage was released this week for the reason most players are released – that the Jaguars feel they are better served with other players playing. And sometimes it's time to move on.
Bruce from St. Simons Island, GA
O, in my opinion, the Jags are a playoff team. When and how do you think this will be clear to all?
When they make the playoffs.
