JACKSONVILLE – We're four days out now.
The game planning has begun for real. The games count now for real. And if that brings some nerves and an added edge, Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence said the fact that the regular season is opening – at last – on Sunday brings the best NFL reality possible.
The buildup is over and that's just, plain cool.
"It just feels good to be in Week 1," Lawrence said.
Lawrence spoke to the media Wednesday as the Jaguars (13-4, AFC South Champions in 2025) prepared to play the Cleveland Browns (5-12) in the regular-season opener at EverBank Field Sunday at 1 p.m. Multiple Jaguars players also spoke Wednesday, echoing that thought:
The regular season is here. For real.
"It couldn't be more real," Jaguars wide receiver Parker Washington said, with wide receiver Jakobi Meyers adding, "We're all excited."
"It's the beginning of the season," Meyers said. "We're ready to go."
The Jaguars will enter the regular-season opener with few starters having played in a game situation since a loss in the AFC Wild Card Playoff to the Buffalo Bills, with Head Coach Liam Coen focusing on joint practices for preparation for experienced players and preseason games for evaluation of younger players.
That means a different, more intentional feel to the week.
"You have something to game plan for now," Lawrence said. "You're out of the training camp grind, every day installing every play you have in your offense. You get to the end [of training camp] and you have been doing the same stuff against your defense. Having the direction now of preparing for an opponent, that's the fun part of the puzzle.
"You put it together through the week and you're mastering your plan and getting ready. As a quarterback, you love that because you know what you're doing and what you're trying to get to every day. That's been fun and I think guys are excited to get to Week 1."
Added Washington, "We're confident. We put a lot of time in. These joint practices have been great for us. We have been attacking what we want to improve and continuing to hone in on what we're really good at. We're excited to get out there on Sunday."
While the Jaguars finished last season as one of the NFL's best teams, defensive end Josh Hines-Allen on Wednesday echoed the offseason theme of Coen and many around the Jaguars when discussing the 2026 team's "identity."
"We'll find out Week 1," he said. "You know we can't live in the past. You know we only can be where our feet are. We're about to find out who we really are.
"You know practice is one thing, but we can translate practice to the game, and then that shows you what our real identity is. But the motto is the same, everything's the same."
The Jaguars started the 2025 season 4-3 and 5-4, winning their last eight games to win their first AFC South title since 2022. They won their 2025 regular-season opener, 26-10, over the Carolina Panthers – and a victory Sunday will give them their first back-to-back 1-0 starts since 2018-2019.
"We would like to get off to a fast start for sure," Meyers said. "We feel like we have a good team, and we really just want to show people how good we are at the end of the day.
"We have been training hard for it, practicing hard for it, and I think we're gonna go out there and do that."
NOTABLE
Washington on Wednesday discussed his contract situation, saying that his team and the Jaguars are "still having that communication, that dialogue." Washington, a sixth-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft, became eligible for a contract extension this offseason. "I have updates from my agent each and every day – and having great talks with my family," he said. "To me, my job is to come out here and stay ready to go, just do my job, be the best receiver I can be and make plays for the team. I'm just focused on me, being the best teammate I can be and having fun out here. If we get it done, that's cool. If not, I'm going to go out Sunday and leave my best out there."
