JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – When the Jaguars face Tennessee on Sunday it will be the second time they’ve seen the Titans in a two week span. The Jaguars beat the Titans 19-13 on Nov. 19. As divisional opponent Jacksonville was going to face Tennessee two times no matter what and there are positives and negatives to facing a team this quickly.
“I think the preparation stuff, you get one more game to take a look at and have a pretty good idea,” said Coach Gus Bradley. “That was a short week, too, so sometimes your game plan switches up a little bit on a short week to simplify things and the amount that you put in. I think there is some good and bad with it, but overall, the preparation, you have a good idea based on (the fact that) only two weeks ago you played them.”
Quarterback Blake Bortles enters Sunday’s game needing just two passing TDs to break David Garrard’s single single-season team record of 23. Bortles threw one touchdown and one interception in the week 11 win over the Titans. In his opinion things could be looked at either way when facing an opponent this quickly.
“Probably the same thing as the positive side,” said Bortles. “I’m sure you could point out the negatives. Some people would rather play a team they’ve played before, some people would rather play a team that hasn’t seen them and what they do, maybe because they know certain weaknesses and how to expose them and things like that. But I see it all kind of as an advantage. “
Including Tennessee, three of the Jaguars last five games will be played against divisional opponents. Being familiar with a team the second time around gives the coaching staff something to build off of.
“That’s important,” said offensive coordinator Greg Olson. “We spoke about this this morning, to the players. As you work down the stretch here, you’re going to be playing three that we’ve played previously. It’s important, one that you reflect upon those notes and what we did well and the things that they’ll be working on. Certainly, they’ll be working to stop some of the things we did well. We’re aware of that and the players are aware of that.”