JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
JT from Palm Coast, FL
John, it feels like this team desperately needs the upcoming bye week. This first quarter of the year has been a pleasant surprise, but at times, it has been ugly to the bone. Schedule seems to lighten up a little after the bye. Do you get that same sense?
I agree that the Jaguars feel as if they could use a bye. They enter Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Rams at Wembley Stadium injured in some key areas – specifically the areas of tight end Brenton Strange, linebacker Devin Lloyd and defensive end Travon Walker. A bye could help this team get a bit healthier entering the final 10 games. And it's true that – on paper, at least – the post-bye schedule includes many games that seem at least relatively manageable for a Jaguars team that is playing hard, improving and has a lot of belief. Where we diverge a bit is the idea that the Jaguars' season to date has been "ugly to the bone." They're 4-2 with victories over two teams that won their divisions last season, the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans. Their season includes an impressive three-game winning streak. They have shown serious growth and are playing as winning teams play. That's not ugly. That's, in fact, pretty damned beautiful.
Chris from Mandarin
Why do you think former Jaguars quarterback Mac Jones had a better connection with wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. than starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence has? Trevor has never really been a quarterback to feed his best players the ball in a way that Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco did with wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase on Thursday night during the Bengals-Pittsburgh Steelers matchup. Maybe it's circumstantial, but it appears to be a deficiency in Trevor's game in my opinion.
One reason Jones had a "better connection" with Thomas from this view was there weren't all that many other options in the offense late last season. He therefore targeted Thomas pretty much constantly. That wasn't ideal then and it wouldn't be ideal now. Thomas dropping a few more passes than would be ideal is perhaps another reason there hasn't been a "better connection" with Thomas and Lawrence this season. Lawrence hasn't been remotely perfect in his career, or this season. But he is playing better in recent weeks than he did early in the season, and I'm not sure him not throwing Thomas 15 passes a game at the expense of other capable players in the offense is among his flaws. And while I really like Thomas and what he brings to the offense, I'm not sure he has played well enough this season to merit comparisons to Chase or to expect the Jaguars to feed him the ball in similar fashion. Remember: A lot of Bengals quarterbacks feed Chase constantly. He's easy to feed. He's that good.
Wes from Ponte Vedra, FL
Can the Jags play all their 2027 home games in London and then forever be done giving up a home game each year? Season tickets shouldn't be seven games for the price of eight.
I don't at all expect the Jaguars to stop playing home games in London following the 2027 season. Owner Shad Khan believes the game in London benefits the team and city from a financial and awareness standpoint. This has been the case for more than a decade, and I don't expect it to change.
Leslie from Jacksonville
What's the possibility of trading either of the Littles (kicker or left tackle) or even the safety Wenguard)? Go Duval. Go Jaguars.
It was always Wenguard, it seems.
Brian from Wheeling
Did you see Flacco against the Steelers? Man, did he do his job and bring that team to life! He had better stats than Trevor with only having a few practices with them. His accuracy and ball placement would be nice to have in Jacksonville. James should've grabbed him up and sat Trevor to learn from. Trevor has had nobody to learn from and has to learn through playing. I get he has coaches. but think I would be different having the vet Flacco there to help him. I'm definitely not giving up on Trevor, but he needs more help. Maybe that would be exactly what we and he need.
I didn't see Bengals-Thursday. I was in London, which is five hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, and I was Leepy Time by kickoff. I understand Flacco played well, which is unsurprising because Flacco is a good veteran quarterback. I don't necessarily think Jaguars General Manager James Gladstone should have "grabbed" Flacco," and I would be stunned if the Jaguars sign a quarterback and have Lawence "sit" and learn from that quarterback. Lawrence is the Jaguars' starting quarterback. As for "everyone else's" opinion on this … I don't doubt many O-Zone readers will agree and many will disagree. Lawrence is a polarizing O-Zone subject these days. Those not fer him are not fer him – and it will take some doing on his part to change that. Those fer him are fer him – and it will take some undoing on his part to change that. My thought is Lawrence has improved this season, particularly in recent weeks, and must improve more. We're into it now. We'll see where it ends.
Keith from Saint Augustine, FL
I like Walker Little. I was glad when the Jaguars drafted him out of Stanford in the second round in 2021. I watched him develop as he competed with Cam Robinson and Jawaan Taylor and honestly thought he was an upgrade when he became our starting left tackle. He did fine last year and through the first five games of 2025 and then came the Seattle game. Some attributed three sacks given up and some had four sacks given up by him in that game. He also was credited with allowing six pressures. I have never seen him play that badly and hope that game was an anomaly or outlier. What happened and is it fixable?
Jaguars left tackle Walker Little for the most part played fine through five games and he has run-blocked very well – not only this season, but throughout his career. I don't know that he's a Pro Bowl left tackle. He absolutely is a solid starter. One game doth not an NFL career make.
Fred from Cognac, France
Hi. I'm going to attend the London game versus the Rams this Sunday with my 12-year-old son. My tickets say that I could be refused entry If I wear any jersey from a team not playing this day. As my son and I only have jerseys from other NFL teams. Do you know if we' would be able to buy Jerseys in the stadium ? Thx.
People with tickets to Sunday's Rams-Jaguars game will not be refused entry for wearing jerseys from teams not playing in the game. I have been assured that this "information" is false.
Dwayne from Jacksonville
I never realized that "Don's all in" was short for Don always wins.
Mystery solved.
Larry from Wattsburg(h) PA
Do you believe that EverBank will remain 100% natural grass as the Stadium of the Future, or change to turf, or possibly a hybrid surface such as the pitch at Wembley? Also, my apologies to Matt Stafford, forgot that was originally an insult; his stats are pretty good though! Looking forward to checking the score on my lunch break @ 10AM Saturday! DUUUVAL!
The surface of the Stadium of the Future in downtown Jacksonville at this point is undetermined, with a major reason being that technology in this area changes fast. With the Stadium of the Future not opening for almost three years, there is plenty of time to wait to determine how best to address the surface. While a grass surface is possible, it's also trickier than other hybrid or artificial surfaces. Remember: Shading fans is a priority for the project and shade makes grass trickier than no shade, but we shall see. Stay tuned on this one – for perhaps multiple years, actually.
Mason from Palm Bay
Is there a limit to how many "void years" teams can add to a player's contract? What's stopping them from adding seven-to-10 years to really minimize how much money is hitting the cap? I understand that at some point you still have to pay, so you wouldn't want to accumulate too many long-term cap hits. But with the cap rising every season, you could strategically maneuver the contracts.
The limit is five.
Chevin from Grammarside, Questionville, Florida
It feels as though I constantly experience people finishing sentences with the phrase, "…where we're at." Aren't you already at where you are? It seems to me the "at" is redundant and the phrase should simply be, "…where we are." Am I pretentious?
Being pretentious doesn't make you incorrect, though you might not be as popular at parties as might otherwise be the case.
Michael from Orange Park, FL
Let's go, Jaguars!!!!!
Michael is ready for some (Sunday morning) football.
