In Week 5, the Jaguars (1-3) travel to Houston to face the Texans (0-4) at NRG Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 12 at 1 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on CBS nationally and WJAX-TV locally. The Jaguars and Texans have faced off 36 times in the regular season with the Texans holding a 23-13 lead in the all-time series. See below for some key stats and quotes entering Sunday's matchup.
RECORD-SETTING ROOKIE: RB James Robinson has totaled at least 90 scrimmage yards, including at least 100 in the last three contests, in his first four career games, joining RBs LaDanian Tomlinson (2001), Adrian Peterson (2007), Kareem Hunt (2017) and Saquon Barkley (2018) as the only players to register at least 90 scrimmage yards in each of their first four NFL games.
Tomlinson, Peterson, Hunt and Barkley have combined for 14 total Pro Bowl selections, while Robinson's first professional honor was being awarded the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Month for September.
Quotable: "I'm a person who once I see it, I expect it, so it doesn't surprise me. I expect it to happen and I need it to happen because we want to win. I go to him all the time and tell him how big of a part of the offense he is or is for me. But surprising? No because at this point, he got here for a reason. He's our starting running back for a reason and he put up the stats that he has for a reason, so [I'm] not surprised at all." – WR DJ Chark Jr.
CHARK'S COMEBACK: After missing Week 3 due to injury, WR DJ Chark Jr. returned with a bang in Week 4 at Cincinnati, catching eight passes for 95 yards and two TDs, marking his third career game with multiple receiving TDs. Chark's three games with multiple receiving TDs are the second-most in franchise history through a player's first three season (WR Allen Robinson – four).
While Chark scored his first career TD at TIAA Bank Field in the 2019 season opener, he's been even more dominant in hostile territory. All three of his multi-TD games have come on the road, and his five TDs against AFC South opponents since 2019 are the most by any player in the NFL against the division in that span. QB Gardner Minshew II and Chark hooked up for a 4-yard score with 30 seconds remaining at Houston in Week 2 last season.
Quotable:"Man, it's huge having DJ out there. He's one of the top receivers in the league, I truly believe that. He went to the Pro Bowl last year. He is better than he was last year. He is also good at being a leader and a guy we can really count on. I believe the ceiling is very high for this offense." – QB Gardner Minshew II
YOUNG AND READY: Through the first four weeks of the season, the Jaguars' rookie class leads the NFL in total snaps played (1,358) and scrimmage yards (707) and is tied for the most TDs (four). The 707 scrimmage yards, gained by RB James Robinson, WR Laviska Shenault Jr. and WR Collin Johnson, is the most by any rookie class through the first four weeks of a season over the last 35 years.
This season, Jacksonville has had 16 rookies play in a game and four rookies start a game. Six rookies have played at least 100 snaps, including first-round DE/LB K'Lavon Chaisson, who has played 136 snaps and totaled seven tackles and 1.0 sack. Chaisson is from Houston and attended North Shore Senior High School, which is 20 miles away from NRG Stadium. Chaisson posted four tackles for loss, including 2.0 total sacks and one strip sack, during the 2015 state championship game played at NRG Stadium. The Houston native sniffed out a jet-sweep pass on fourth-and-goal in overtime to lift North Shore to the state championship. He also posted three tackles when LSU defeated BYU, 27-0, in a neutral site contest at NRG Stadium to open his freshman season.
The Jaguars selected a franchise-record 12 players in the 2020 draft and the return on their investment is already evident.
Quotable: "It's a lot of mature people in this class. I'm not really sure how the other classes [have] been that [Coach Marrone] has been a part of, but it's a lot of mature guys in this class who's willing to learn, who's wanting to compete. We're all hungry. We all want to get out there and make this team better as possible. We know the direction that this team can go in and with all the older guys telling us the steps we're all willing to take and the mindset this program has going forward, we're all buying in and we're ready to go." – DE/LB K'Lavon Chaisson
ANY WHICH WAY: Through the first four weeks of the season, Jacksonville is one of three teams to have at least six players with double-digit receptions. QB Gardner Minshew II has completed at least eight passes to eight players, and five players have caught a TD this season. The Jaguars wide receivers have 64 receptions, their running backs have 25 receptions and their tight ends have 17 receptions.
Jacksonville has been just as versatile on the ground as they are the only team in the NFL that has at least one running back with more than 250 rushing yards (James Robinson – 285), one wide receiver with more than 50 rushing yards (Laviska Shenault Jr. – 53) and one quarterback with more than 50 rushing yards (QB Gardner Minshew II – 69)
Quotable: "I'm just working with our guys each week just trying to get better and better, [get] on the same page, continue to try to build that chemistry with our guys, continuing to trust our offensive line and just build this thing together. I think we have a lot of room to grow as a unit, as a team, and that's what we're going to work to do … I try to be the best guy each time we step out there on Sundays. I know I'm going to give my all and compete for my teammates and they're going to do the same for me and I think as long as we do that, we're going to get this thing going [in] the right direction." – QB Gardner Minshew II
DYNAMIC DUO: RB James Robinson (285 rushing, 161 receiving) and WR Laviska Shenault Jr. (191 receiving, 53 rushing) are the only rookies in the NFL to each have 150 receiving yards and 50 rushing yards. The pair of young stars have combined for 690 scrimmage yards through four games, which marks the most by a rookie duo through the first four games of a season since Rams Hall of Fame RB Eric Dickerson (567) and WR Otis Grant (184) had 751 scrimmage yards in Weeks 1-4 in 1983.
If he totals at least nine receiving yards on Sunday, Laviska Shenault Jr. would joinBrandin Cooks as the only wide receivers in the NFL over the last 25 seasons to register at least 200 receiving yards and at least 50 rushing yards through five career games.
Quotable: "I think the more healthy [Laviska Shenault Jr.] gets, the more confidence he has in the system, where to line up, how to play. He's going to be a factor for this football team for many years to come. We're just scratching the surface with him, but we love the way he works in practice and his production on game day has been excellent so far." – Offensive Coordinator Jay Gruden
