The Broncos are back home for a Week 2 matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Sunday’s game comes with a little extra edge after last season’s meeting and Sean Payton’s offseason message to Liam Coen.
Payton didn’t forget the Jaguars’ 34-20 win in Week 16 last December, and Coen didn’t forget the back-and-forth that followed. At the NFL owners’ meetings last March, Payton told Coen: "I'm coming for you this year."
Coen’s response to the whole thing was simple: "In competition."
Denver is coming off a rough 31-10 loss at Arrowhead Stadium, and while the Broncos are expected to be better than they looked against Kansas City, Sunday still carries plenty of attention as they try to answer after that showing. Broncos-Jaguars kicks off at 2:05 p.m. MDT.
The game will be handled by referee Brad Hussey’s crew. Since Hussey became a head referee in 2015, his group has worked eight Broncos games, and Denver has gone 5-3 in those contests.
The last time Hussey’s crew was on a Broncos game came in Week 13 of the 2024 season, when Denver rolled the Cleveland Browns at Mile High on Monday Night Football. Last week, that same crew worked the Cincinnati Bengals’ 33-27 home win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a game that featured 15 combined penalties for 86 penalty yards.
On the broadcast side, Broncos-Jaguars will have its own familiar setup for fans watching at home. The Broncos will wear their primary home Sunset Orange jerseys with Summit White pants, the same combination they wore in both playoff games this past January. Jacksonville will be in white jerseys and white pants, just as it was in Week 16 last season.
Sunday also brings a sentimental touch. Tim Tebow will be the Broncos’ Alumni Flag Planter against the Jaguars, a fitting choice given his ties to the Jacksonville area and the fact that Bo Nix was a fan growing up. Tebow starred at Florida, won two national championships and a Heisman Trophy, and the Broncos made him a first-round pick in the 2010 NFL draft.
He never started a full season in Denver, but his 2011 run still sits near the top of franchise lore. The Broncos finished 8-8 that year and won the division, then hosted the AFC Wild Card game against the defending AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Denver was expected to be overmatched, but Tebow and the defense dragged the game into overtime.
On the first play of overtime, Tebow connected with Demaryius Thomas on a slant that turned into an 80-yard touchdown and sent the Broncos to one of the most memorable playoff wins in team history. The next offseason, Denver signed Peyton Manning and traded Tebow to the New York Jets.
Returning to @EmpowerField for the first time since creating playoff #MileHighMagic ✨ …@TimTebow will be our Alumni Flag planter for #JAXvsDEN! pic.twitter.com/nFQhjkYdvl
It was a brief Broncos chapter, but one that still means a lot in Denver.
In Other News...
Trevor Lawrence Has A Costly Jaguars Habit They Need To Fix
Trevor Lawrences decision-making has been a point of emphasis for the Jaguars, and not just because of the usual quarterback pressures that come with running an offense. Over his last 18 games, Lawrence has been flagged three times for illegal forward passes, a costly habit that Jacksonville is working to clean up as coach Liam Coen looks for ways to help him avoid the kind of mistake that can erase a drive in an instant.
The broader roster picture has also shifted as Jacksonville prepares for its next stretch, with undrafted rookie Bryan Thomas Jr. expected to get on the field after BJ Greens injury and linebacker Jack Kiser now back on the active roster after working his way back from the knee injury he suffered in training camp. For a team trying to build cleaner habits and steadier depth at the same time, those moving parts matter, even if the quarterback issue remains the one most likely to follow the Jaguars from week to week. [Read more 🡒]
Colts Already Made One Defensive Change After Week 1 Breakdown
The Colts spent part of the week addressing a problem that showed up quickly in their opener, when defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said the unit was caught off guard by the opponents tempo plays. One of the first responses was a change in the secondary, with the green dot coming off DB Cam Bynum as Indianapolis looks to clean up alignment and communication before the next round of AFC South play.
For Jacksonville, the bigger takeaway is how much the Jaguars already saw from Travon Walker in Week 1. Head coach Liam Coen singled out the defensive end for influencing both the pass rush and the run game, a reminder that Jacksonville still has a front-line piece who can tilt a matchup even while the division is already making midstream corrections. [Read more 🡒]
Jaguars May Have A Real Edge In One Crucial Week 2 Battle
After a Week 1 win, the Jaguars are heading into Sunday with some of the same questions every good early-season team faces: how steady is the offense, and which young players can keep pushing the rotation forward? A staff roundtable preview pointed to Jacksonvilles balance on offense and its passing game as the biggest reasons for optimism, while also noting that rookie contributors could matter again as the Jaguars try to build on a strong opening week.
Denver brings a different kind of test, especially with the Broncos quarterback play still under the microscope after a rough opener. Jacksonvilles defense will have its own matchups to sort through, and the preview singled out names like Dennis Gardeck, Branson Combs and Travis Hunter as players worth watching if the Jaguars are going to keep the edge in a game that could hinge on a few key snaps. [Read more 🡒]