The Jaguars return home in Week 3 with plenty to sort out, and the Patriots bring their own questions into a matchup between two 1-1 teams that still look like early playoff contenders. New England has already shown two different versions of itself - a smooth win over the Pittsburgh Steelers after a shaky opener against the Seattle Seahawks - while Jacksonville has flashed its ceiling in a blowout of the Cleveland Browns and then stumbled in Denver.
That makes Sunday less about records and more about answers. Is Jacksonville’s offensive line really a problem?
Can the secondary tighten up? Will Trevor Lawrence look like the player who had people talking MVP after Week 1?
And is Travis Hunter about to get a larger role?
The biggest concern for Jacksonville may start up front. Against the Broncos, the offensive line had a rough night, and Lawrence felt it constantly.
According to PFF, he was pressured on 36% of his dropbacks, a massive jump from Week 1. He still managed to escape trouble and make some throws under duress, but the overall effect on his performance was obvious.
New England’s defense is a different kind of test, too: six sacks through two games, blitzing at the sixth-highest rate in the league at 41.1%, and generating pressure on 46.7% of those blitzes. If the Jaguars protect better, the Denver game starts to look like a one-off.
If they don’t, it’s harder to shrug off.
Jacksonville also has to clean up the deep shots on defense. Bo Nix put up 288 passing yards against the Jaguars, and Jaylen Waddle had a 138-yard game in the same neighborhood of explosive damage.
The run defense has held up, but the back end has had trouble preventing chunk plays through the air. That matters because the Patriots have already shown they can hit those kinds of plays themselves.
Drake Maye has thrown four interceptions and only one touchdown in two games, but New England still found explosive success against the Steelers in Week 2, the kind of plays Jacksonville struggled to stop against Denver.
Lawrence, meanwhile, gets another chance to reset the conversation. He was sharp in the first half against Denver even while under constant heat, then the game slipped away from him after halftime.
The Patriots are bringing one of the better early-season defenses in the league, so this is a real proving ground. Lawrence drew MVP buzz after Week 1, but Week 2 cooled that quickly.
A strong response against New England would matter.
Then there’s Travis Hunter, whose usage remains one of the more intriguing questions in Jacksonville. He has mostly played defense, but the Jaguars still haven’t found a way to feature him in a meaningful way.
He has logged a few snaps on offense without much impact, and he has not done much on defense either. Jacksonville traded up to No. 2 for him, and the team still has to decide how it wants to deploy him.
He has the tools to become a star receiver or a shutdown cornerback, but only if the role actually opens up.
The pass rush is another place where the Jaguars need a response. Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker are one of the league’s top edge duos, but they were quiet in Denver after combining for five sacks against Cleveland.
The Patriots could offer a chance to get back on track, since Maye has been under heavy pressure in both games. If Jacksonville can’t get home here, it raises a bigger question about whether the pass rush is more fragile than expected.
In Other News...
Jaguars Rookies Already Face A Week 3 Reality Check
After the Jaguars let a 13-3 lead slip away in their Week 2 loss to Denver, the focus around the building quickly shifted from the frustration of the finish to what comes next. Liam Coen has been pushing his rookies to treat every week like its own assignment, and that message is especially pointed now, with the early part of the season already sorting out which first-year players are part of the immediate plan and which ones still have ground to make up.
Wesley Williams, Tanner Koziol, Jalen Huskey and CJ Williams were all healthy scratches against the Broncos, while undrafted rookie Bryan Thomas Jr. got his first taste of the NFL stage. Others, including Albert Regis, Josh Cameron and Nate Boerkircher, were worked in at different levels as the game unfolded, a reminder that rookie roles can change fast in Jacksonville. The bigger question now is how many of those young players can turn a rough Week 2 into real traction before the next challenge arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Jaguars Run Defense Suddenly Has A Week 3 Concern Fans Will Notice
The Jaguars injury report for Week 3 brought a little extra attention to the middle of the defense, where defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton was listed as limited while working back from a back injury. Hamilton has been a key piece up front, so even a small change in his availability can ripple through a run defense that is already looking for more consistency. Center Robert Hainsey was also limited, adding another familiar name to a report that had some weight for both sides of the line.
Liam Coen has already signaled that he wants more out of the defensive tackle group, and he sounded confident the team has enough depth to handle whatever comes next. If Hamilton ends up restricted, rookie Albert Regis could be asked to play a bigger role sooner than expected, which would be a meaningful test for a unit trying to hold the line early in the season. For a Jaguars defense that has been leaning on its front to set the tone, this is the kind of Week 3 development that bears watching. [Read more 🡒]
Jaguars Just Got A Reality Check Fans Can't Ignore
The Jaguars Week 2 loss to the Broncos did more than hand Jacksonville its first real stumble of the season. After building a 10-point second-half lead and letting it slip away, the mood around the team shifted quickly, with head coach Liam Coen stressing accountability and the need for a sharper response in the days ahead.
National power rankings have followed suit, nudging Jacksonville just outside the top 10 and treating the defeat as a reminder that early-season optimism still needs to be backed up. For a team with higher expectations, the next stretch now carries a little more weight, because the margin for a bad loss shrinks fast when the league starts sorting out who is for real. [Read more 🡒]