The Jaguars came out of Week 6 with the kind of loss that leaves a mark. A 34-31 defeat to the Texans dropped Jacksonville to 4-2 and handed Houston new life in the AFC South, with too many mistakes doing the Jaguars in.
And even in a game that ugly, there were clear winners and losers on the Jacksonville side.
Travis Hunter was the biggest stock-up name, and for good reason. For the first time in his NFL career, he made a game-changing impact on both sides of the ball.
Hunter caught four passes for 59 yards and a touchdown while playing only nine offensive snaps, and on defense he was out there for 98% of Jacksonville’s snaps and came up with a red-zone interception. The Jaguars seem ready to keep leaning into what he can do, and his role figures to be one of the most interesting things to watch over the final two-thirds of the season.
“Yeah, that's kind of who he is. We got to continue to get him the ball and keep building off of it and make sure it fits within the rhythm and flow of the game, but he definitely helped put us in a position to win that game today,” Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said after the game Sunday.
Chris Rodriguez Jr. also moved in the right direction. The running back had his strongest outing of the season, carrying the ball 11 times for 55 yards and showing the kind of tackle-breaking, yards-after-contact ability Jacksonville has been waiting to see more consistently. After a slow start, Rodriguez has picked things up over the past few weeks, and it’s starting to look like he and Bhayshul Tuten are becoming the backfield combination the Jaguars envisioned when they signed him.
“What we’ve excelled at I feel, honestly, is a new line of scrimmage. We say that from the O-lineman standpoint.
The best runs are when you can get those guys off the ball and create a second line of scrimmage. I feel like we've done a pretty good job of that.
And, for me, I’d just say running downhill, trying to get back into a rhythm and flow of being who I am and being who got me here, essentially," Rodriguez said this week.
Walker Little held his own in a difficult assignment. Going against Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, the Jaguars tackle came away with very few issues, and Pro Football Focus credited him with just two pressures on 44 pass-blocking snaps. With Little needed for at least the next few weeks, if not longer, Sunday was a solid showing from the veteran lineman.
On the other side of the ledger, Brian Thomas Jr. had a rough day that could easily be remembered as a turning point. He was targeted twice in the first half on plays that would have put Jacksonville in field-goal range, but both passes were incomplete after hitting his hands.
Thomas played 15 snaps before halftime and then didn’t take another snap the rest of the way. Coen also didn’t exactly back him up when asked about him afterward, making this feel like a potentially significant moment in Thomas’ Jaguars run.
Jarrian Jones also took a hit in the stock report. He has had some good moments this season, but because opposing quarterbacks aren’t testing Travis Hunter much, Jones has become the most-targeted cornerback in football through six weeks.
He’s handled that pressure well at times, but this wasn’t one of those days. Jones dealt with penalty problems, gave up an explosive play, and missed a tackle on a Texans touchdown run.
Jourdan Lewis rounds out the fallers after a difficult game of his own. If Jones is better suited to the slot, then Jacksonville has a real question to answer with Lewis, who allowed the 3rd-and-10 touchdown to Jaylin Noel at the start of the second half. He also was responsible for the third-down completion to Woody Mark's on the final drive that sealed the game.
In Other News...
Brian Thomas Jr. Trade Buzz Just Got More Real For Jaguars Fans
Brian Thomas Jr. has become one of the more intriguing names to watch around Jacksonville as the season unfolds, not because anything is imminent, but because his future with the Jaguars suddenly feels less settled than it did not long ago. The receiver market has a way of turning quickly, and the latest chatter has connected the Rams and Commanders to the kind of wideout help they may need after injuries thinned out their depth charts.
For Jaguars fans, the interest is obvious because Thomas brings real value and still sits at the center of a conversation that is more about fit and timing than any official move. The Rams and Commanders both make some sense on paper given their receiver situations, but for now it remains exactly that, a theory built on roster need and uncertainty rather than a confirmed deal. [Read more 🡒]
Jaguars Have A Cornerback Problem The Trade Deadline Could Finally Fix
The Jaguars secondary is one of the clearest places to watch as the NFL trade deadline approaches, and the cornerback market has a few names that make sense on paper. Jacksonville has been linked in the discussion to a mix of younger, affordable options and more experienced veterans, with Tariq Woolen, Zyon McCollum, Brandon Stephens and Kristian Fulton among the players that could potentially be available depending on how their current teams view them.
What makes this interesting for Jacksonville is the fit as much as the price. The Jaguars do not need a splashy move just for the sake of it, but they do need help at a spot where the options have to line up with both present needs and future cap reality. Whether the front office can find a corner who actually becomes available is the bigger question, and it is the kind of deadline puzzle that could shape the rest of the season. [Read more 🡒]
Liam Coen Made One Jaguars Decision Fans Will Debate All Week
Late in the fourth quarter of a tight Week 6 matchup, Liam Coen chose the conservative path and sent out the field-goal unit instead of rolling the dice on fourth down. The kick was from 60 yards, a long try by any standard, and it went through, giving the Jaguars a chance to let the defense finish the job.
Coen later pointed to his confidence in the kicker and the situation on the clock as the reasons for taking the points. Still, the choice will linger in Jacksonville after the Texans answered with a game-winning field goal of their own, turning a successful gamble on the scoreboard into one of those coaching decisions fans will revisit all week. [Read more 🡒]