The Jaguars knocked the rust off and kicked off Year 2 of the Liam Coen era with a preseason win in a battle of the backups on Saturday in New Orleans.
Resting its starters, the end result for Coen wasn’t about winning on the scoreboard, although they managed to scratch out a 24-20 victory that came down to the final pass. Numerous depth-position roster battles are going on, and the Jaguars needed to see positive strides from those developing players. There were a few spotlights.
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The Jaguars shook off a rough opening half and a 14-point deficit to scratch out a win when things looked ugly. There were lowlights, too. The pass coverage was soft. There were too many missed tackles. And there was another injury along the battered offensive line that brings that unit into question.
The glaring issues
Trevor Lawrence was durable last year, starting all 17 games and producing a career season that resulted in him being an MVP finalist. The Jaguars expect Lawrence to take another step forward in Year 2 of the Coen and Grant Udinski offense. If Lawrence were to miss time this year, Saturday’s performance sounded an alarm that the Jaguars need to consider options that aren’t on the roster.
Backup Nick Mullens has been erratic at best during training camp and struggled significantly against New Orleans backups. He threw a red-zone interception on Jacksonville’s opening drive and never looked comfortable. Mullens finished 3 of 7 for 33 yards.
Carter Bradley came on in relief of Mullens and wasn’t much better until settling in after halftime. Late in the second quarter, he locked on heavily covered rookie receiver CJ Williams and was picked off by Jayden Price. The Saints scored two plays later. Bradley did play far better after the break. He hit Hunter Long on a 1-yard touchdown pass, and would have added a second had Trebor Pena not dropped a perfect throw midway through the fourth quarter. Bradley finished 10 of 17 for 195 yards. He looked far better than Mullens.
Missed tackles were a problem from the outset. After allowing an 86-yard kickoff return to open the game, Jacksonville had three players miss a tackle on New Orleans running back Audric Estime as he scored on a 9-yard run on the very next play.
There’s also a growing concern with the health of the offensive line. Chuma Edoga went down with an injury on Jacksonville’s first series of the game and didn’t return. The Jaguars are already without Cole Van Lanen (offseason knee surgery), Walker Little, and Patrick Mekari. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Jacksonville explore what’s out there in terms of free agent linemen. The health and depth of that unit is a growing concern.
The rookies check in
Receivers Josh Cameron and CJ Williams looked strong in training camp and carried some of the momentum through the preseason opener. Cameron got opportunities in both the punt and kick return games and had a catch for 17 yards. Cameron had a 25-yard kick return as his big flash of the day. Williams had a couple of receptions and had a dropped pass, something that hasn’t been common for him in camp.
Defensive tackle Albert Regis had his welcome-to-the-NFL moment with a nice sack of Zach Wilson in the third quarter, dragging him down for a 14-yard loss. Regis isn’t likely to start this season barring an injury, but he’s positioned to have a role in the rotation in the middle of the defensive line.
Undrafted free agent running back J’Mari Taylor is battling for a roster spot and had the bulk of the reps on Saturday. His 2-yard touchdown run with 5 minutes left pushed Jacksonville in front 24-20. Taylor finished with 78 yards on 22 carries to lead both teams.
The secondary
Saints quarterbacks Spencer Rattler and Zach Wilson picked on Jacksonville’s younger secondary. Corey Ballantine struggled all game long. Wilson found Bub Means for a 37-yard gain down the sideline on the final drive before halftime, a huge play on third down that helped set up a field goal.
Jabbar Muhammad also struggled in coverage most of the day until swatting down Hunter Dekkers’ final pass in the end zone to Jalen Moreno-Cropper to preserve the win. Ballentine has looked average in camp, but Muhammad was an offseason darling in the secondary and has flashed potential. It was a major learning experience for both against New Orleans.
Good day for some defenders
Yasir Abdullah is locked in a battle for one of the depth spots at linebacker and helped his case with an excellent afternoon on defense and special teams. Abdullah tracked down Barion Brown on a punt return and tackled him for a loss of 7 yards on the play. And he had a strip sack of Rattler late in the opening quarter.
Edge BJ Green II recovered the fumble at the New Orleans 7 in a sequence that set up a Cam Little field goal. Abdullah has been a bit of an enigma during his time in Jacksonville, flashing potential and then fizzing out. In his quest for a roster spot this year, Abdullah stood out as a major winner on Saturday.
Rookie safety Jalen Huskey had a solid day, too. Huskey was the reason why Ty Chandler didn’t take the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, catching up with the return man at the 9 and taking him down. The Saints scored one play later, but it was Huskey’s effort play that at least salvaged some respect after that 86-yard return. Huskey also had a pass breakup on Oscar Delp where he jarred the ball loose and forced the incompletion.