Jaguars Find Fuel in Pro Bowl Snubs as Postseason Push Intensifies
The Jacksonville Jaguars are 11-4, winners of six straight and seven of their last eight. They've locked up a playoff berth and are surging at the right time.
But when the AFC Pro Bowl roster dropped this week, the Jaguars found themselves with just one representative - and it wasn’t Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne, or even breakout linebacker Devin Lloyd. It was long snapper Ross Matiscik.
That’s it.
For a team sitting atop the AFC South and playing some of the most complete football in the league, that kind of recognition - or lack thereof - isn’t just surprising. It’s a spark.
“We can’t control those decisions,” head coach Liam Coen said. “But we’ve got a lot of guys who’ve done some really cool things this season.
To be 11-4 and only have one guy in? That speaks volumes.”
And not in the way you’d hope.
Devin Lloyd: The Biggest Miss
Let’s start with Devin Lloyd. The second-year linebacker has quietly put together one of the most disruptive seasons in the league.
He leads the AFC in takeaways and is tied for second in the NFL with six - five of them interceptions. And these aren’t garbage-time picks.
Lloyd has changed games, flipping momentum with interceptions against heavyweights like the 49ers and Chiefs, and even in the first meeting with the Colts.
He’s added a career-high nine quarterback hits and 1.5 sacks to go with it. If there’s a linebacker in the conference doing more with less hype, good luck finding him.
“Obviously as a competitor, you want to get that nod,” Lloyd said. “But we’re in a great position to play in the real bowl. That’s the focus - week-to-week, staying locked in, and doing what we need to do to get where we want to go.”
Plenty of Talent, Not Enough Recognition
Lloyd isn’t alone. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence, running back Travis Etienne, and return man Parker Washington were all named Pro Bowl alternates.
That means they’re still in the mix if others drop out, but it’s not the same. Not when Lawrence leads the AFC with 26 touchdown passes and has added seven more on the ground.
Not when Etienne ranks third in the conference in total touchdowns with 13. And not when kicker Cam Little - a rookie, no less - drilled a record-setting 68-yard field goal this season and still didn’t make the cut.
Let that sink in. A 68-yarder.
NFL record. No invite.
“Shoutout to Ross. Kudos to him.
He deserves it,” said defensive end Josh Hines-Allen. “But we have other guys on the team that deserve it as well.
… It just goes back to the same old, same old thing that we’ve been experiencing. It’s expected.”
The Edge Jacksonville Wants - and Maybe Needs
For Coen, this might be the perfect storm. The first-year head coach has shown a knack for leaning into the “nobody believes in us” narrative. Whether it was a passing comment from Sean Payton about Jacksonville being a small-market team, or analysts hyping up Houston and Indianapolis in the division race, Coen has found ways to turn outside noise into internal motivation.
And now, with the Pro Bowl snubs, he’s got another card to play.
Jacksonville heads to Indianapolis this weekend with a chance to clinch the AFC South and secure a home playoff game. All they need is a win and a Houston loss to the Chargers.
That’s a real path to locking up the division - and they don’t need any extra motivation. But if it helps?
Coen’s not going to turn it down.
The Pro Bowl voting - split evenly between fans, players, and coaches - left Jacksonville in rare company. Only three AFC teams landed just one Pro Bowl starter: the Jaguars, Bengals, and Dolphins. The Jets, sitting at 3-12, were the only AFC team shut out entirely.
So yeah, the Jaguars have every reason to feel slighted. But they’re not dwelling on it. They’re using it.
“You always use that type stuff as fuel,” Lloyd said. “At the end of the day, you got to channel it the right way.
… Anything you can use as an edge. I don’t think I was the only one that kind of got snubbed.
We’re an 11-4 team, and a lot of guys put a lot of good stuff on tape.”
The tape doesn’t lie. And if the Jaguars keep rolling the way they have, they’ll get the recognition that matters most - in January, not February.