JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Urban Meyer’s start in the NFL was a slow one, much slower than he’s accustomed to.
The Jaguars didn’t move the ball particularly well in Saturday’s preseason game against the Browns, a 23-13 loss at TIAA Bank Field in Meyer’s welcome-to-the-NFL introduction.
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There were positives, Meyer said on Monday morning, but things that he wants to see improve as the team prepares for its second preseason game on Aug. 23 at New Orleans. That game will be televised on WJXT at 8 p.m., with pregame starting an hour earlier.
The run defense played well. Rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence flashed some bright spots over the course of his 15 snaps. Third string QB CJ Beathard had a touchdown pass and was the most effective of the four Jacksonville quarterbacks.
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But things are still developing for Meyer and the Jaguars, and slowly. One of the biggest takeaways for Meyer after the preseason opener … the need to maximize offensive production because of how quickly the game moves.
Meyer said that he was prepared for that going in, but experiencing it was different.
“I can’t stand bad plays, why did we call that situation? It is even magnified now because you just don’t have many plays,” Meyer said.
“I remember looking up and was like my gosh, we’re in the middle of the second quarter and we’ve had three drives, I think. In college, you have three drives in the first quarter or four if you are really cooking. I knew that but now that I did it, it’s on you quick.”
The final game of Meyer’s college coaching career came in the 2019 Rose Bowl, a 28-23 Ohio State win over Washington. The Buckeyes ran 67 offensive plays that game, a dip in the team’s average offensive snaps per game that season (80.8). Against the Browns, the Jaguars ran 61 offensive plays.
The rookie NFL head coach wanted to see his offense get moving against the Browns. Outside of some second half work by Beathard, Jacksonville’s offense was relatively flat. Meyer said that he wanted to see more of an up-tempo style, but that didn’t make it in to the first half when Lawrence and Gardner Minshew couldn’t get the team on the scoreboard.
Meyer was reminded that it’s preseason and things won’t look like they did against the Browns forever.
“So much I hear, ‘We can’t show this, can’t show this, can’t show this.’ I don’t want to get into it, but I want to go some tempo and I’m used to some certain things,” Meyer said.
“You’ll see more of it as we get moving forward and what you saw is not what we’re going to be. I get it, we’re right out of the shoot. I think sometimes coaches [say], ‘We can’t show this, we can’t show that’ and I’m like, ‘Why? Tell me, explain to me why.’”