The Jaguars’ defense came out of Week 2 with a split verdict: plenty to like against the run, but too many breakdowns everywhere else to feel good about how it finished.
Jacksonville opened the 2026 season with a convincing win over the Cleveland Browns, then ran into a different kind of problem against Denver. The Broncos started finding chunk gains over and over, and once the Jaguars let a 13-3 lead slip away, the game tilted hard.
Denver rolled off 17 straight points, Bo Nix finished with 288 passing yards, and five of his completions went for 20 yards or more. Jacksonville also failed to record a sack after piling up five in Week 1.
Defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile said Wednesday that the reaction inside the building has been exactly what you’d expect after a game like that.
"I think everybody's responding," Campanile said. "I've responded a certain way.
The unit has responded a certain way. Nobody's happy about it.
I think everybody's got a level of pissed off in here, which is a good thing. It's just me being honest.
You got to practice that way. There's only one way to fix anything.
It's get back to work. It's not get sad, it's get back to work.
You can have a little bit of anger about the result, but the reality is you got to move on and you got to focus on what can get you better and get you the result that you're looking for. And that's practice and the way that you practice.
Doing things intentionally, doing things with detail, and just being a maniac about it every day. That's the only way I know.
That's the only way these guys know and we have to respond that way. We have to."
There were still bright spots. Jacksonville continued to be strong against the run, and the group held up well in the red zone.
But the trouble came when the Jaguars couldn’t generate enough heat with four rushers. Campanile had to dial up extra pressure, and that in turn put the secondary in more isolated situations that Denver was able to attack.
That’s what made the loss sting for the defense: it did enough early to give the Jaguars a real chance, then couldn’t close the door. For Campanile, the answer is simple - turn the frustration into a sharper week of work and carry that edge into Week 3.
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Grant Udinski has already talked about Tutens development, which makes the rookies role one of the more interesting pieces to watch as the Jaguars head into this stretch. The Patriots will be the opponent on the schedule, but Jacksonvilles real question is whether these individual gains start to add up into a more complete week-to-week formula, especially with key contributors like Hamilton and Miller carrying bigger responsibility than they might have expected this early in the season. [Read more 🡒]