The Jacksonville Jaguars’ first preseason loss of 2026 came with a clear theme: the depth group left too many plays on the field.
Jacksonville fell 34-17 to the Carolina Panthers on Friday night at EverBank Stadium, and with Liam Coen resting virtually all of his established starters again, this was the kind of night built for fringe roster players to make a case. Instead, too many Jaguars made life harder on themselves.
The mistakes piled up fast. Jacksonville was flagged nine times for 60 yards in the first half alone and also turned it over twice in the game.
The second-quarter interception thrown by Carter Bradley was the one that really swung things. At the time, the Jaguars were down 10-3 and had the Panthers pinned at their own 29-yard line.
Carolina needed only three plays to cash in, with A.J. Dillon finishing the drive with a seven-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 17-3.
That sequence changed the feel of the night. What could have been a one-score game heading toward halftime became a two-touchdown chase for Jacksonville, and for players trying to win jobs, that’s the wrong kind of message to send.
The defense had its own problems, especially against the run. Carolina’s starting offense moved the ball too easily on the ground, averaging 7.1 yards per carry on 13 rushing attempts in the first half and finishing at 5.3 yards per carry for the night.
Jonathon Brooks started the scoring with a one-yard touchdown, and Dillon added his seven-yard run in the second quarter. By the end of it, the Panthers had stacked up six scoring drives and kept pressure on a Jacksonville defense that had trouble getting off the field.
There were a few bright spots. Branson Combs, for one, forced Bryce Young into an incompletion on third down during Carolina’s opening possession. But those moments were too rare to offset the bigger issue, and Anthony Campanile will have plenty to sort through before the regular season begins.
Offensively, the Jaguars flashed early but couldn’t finish drives. Nick Mullens opened with a solid series, completing six of seven passes for 65 yards, and Ameer Abdullah was active both on the ground and as a receiver, rushing for 45 yards on six carries and adding three catches for 37 yards.
The problem was what happened after the movement. Jacksonville kept settling for Cam Little field goals, and while Little was perfect on three tries, the offense scored on only three of its first seven possessions, all of them three-pointers.
That left the Jaguars with a 20-6 halftime hole despite some encouraging work from Mullens and the young pass catchers. Carter Bradley then struggled after taking over, going 6-for-13 for 51 yards and throwing the interception that helped Carolina pull away. Rookie Joey Aguilar provided the cleanest spark of the second half, completing nine of 10 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown, but by then the Panthers had already built a 27-6 lead.
There was some reason to like what the rookie receivers showed. Josh Cameron and C.J.
Williams both made positive impressions. Still, the offense didn’t do enough with the chances it created.
The result shouldn’t send Jaguars fans into a panic. Trevor Lawrence, Brian Thomas Jr., Jakobi Meyers, Travis Hunter, Brenton Strange and most of the club’s established starters sat out, and the offensive line was basically a third-string group as Jacksonville continued to play it safe after a series of injuries.
But for the players chasing the final spots on the roster, this was a rough missed chance. The penalties, the leaky run defense and the inability to turn promising drives into touchdowns gave Carolina the opening to separate, and Jacksonville will need much more from its depth when the games start to count.
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Jabbar Muhammad, listed on the second string, added six tackles in a busy showing on defense, while Ameer Abdullah topped the team in rushing yards and Michael Wortham was perfect when the ball came his way. Cam Little also handled his business, hitting all three of his field-goal tries, giving the Jaguars a few encouraging individual moments to sort through as they continue trimming the roster and deciding who is worth a closer look. [Read more 🡒]