The Jaguars have spent too long postponing the Brian Thomas Jr. question, and Week 3 only made it louder.
Jacksonville rolled past New England 35-6 on Sunday, scoring five touchdowns from five different players. Thomas barely registered in the blowout, finishing with just one catch - an eight-yard completion in the first half. It was only the second game of his career in which he had one reception, and the other came in Week 1 of the 2025 season.
That kind of outing is hard to ignore, but the bigger issue is how little Thomas has been involved for a while now. His target volume has been sliding since the second half of last season.
After averaging around 6.85 targets per game in the first seven games of last season before Jakobi Meyers and Parker Washington’s ascencion, Thomas averaged 5.14 targets over his final seven games of the 2025 season. This year, he is at 4.33 targets per game, helped along by a nine-target game against the Denver Broncos in Week 2.
The Patriots game showed that the drop in usage is about more than just targets. Thomas played 23 snaps and ran 13 routes.
That wasn’t simply a byproduct of Jacksonville pulling away early, either. Meyers and Washington each played 50 snaps and ran 27 and 28 routes, respectively.
Even more telling: Jaguars sixth-round rookie Josh Cameron matched Thomas with 23 snaps, ran five fewer routes, and still saw more targets.
After the game, Jaguars head coach Liam Coen was asked whether the usage of Thomas and Cameron was meant as a message after Thomas struggled against Denver in Week 2. Coen said no, pointing instead to the Jaguars leaning heavier on 12 personnel, which forces a receiver off the field.
“We weren't necessarily sending any message," Coen said Monday. "We were playing in a little bit more 12 and also some of the things that we had Josh on specifically were things that we felt good about him doing within a role that he has."
That explanation doesn’t erase the reality of what’s happening. If Thomas is being squeezed by more 12 personnel, then his role is shrinking anyway.
The Jaguars are clearly treating Washington and Meyers as their two receivers in those looks, and they rank No. 3 in the NFL in 12 personnel usage at 30.99%. That’s a major jump from 18.48% in 2025, and it leaves fewer snaps to go around.
With that math, Thomas is already looking like at best the Jaguars’ third receiver. If Cameron keeps climbing, he could become the fourth option before long. That would be a steep fall from Thomas’ record-breaking rookie season, but it also looks like the direction Jacksonville is already taking.
Coen insisted the Jaguars still need Thomas and that the team expects more from him.
"We are 100%, we need all these guys. We need BT to continue to ascend and there wasn't any real message. It was just we all got to do our part and that's on us as coaches too," Coen said Monday.
"We are 100% going to need BT to make plays down the field and continue to ascend and make contested catches and do the things that he does really well. And that's on us as a staff to continue to put him in those positions, and he's going to make a ton of plays for us this year, I have no doubt in my mind.”
Still, the broader picture is hard to miss after 20 games of the Coen era. Thomas is too talented to be living on this kind of snap count, and other teams around the league will notice that.
He still has value to Jacksonville as depth, especially if anything happens to Washington or Meyers. But that has to be weighed against what the Jaguars could get in return if they dealt him by the trade deadline.
His trade value may have peaked in the offseason, when Jacksonville chose not to move him. Since then, Cameron has emerged faster than anyone expected, and Thomas’ role has only gotten smaller. If the Jaguars are going to make a move, the argument is that it should happen sooner rather than later.
Thomas is a good player. The Jaguars are a good team. But after three weeks - and really over the last two seasons - it looks like both sides would be better off with a fresh start.
In Other News...
Jaguars Get Their Biggest Early Test Yet With AFC South Stakes Rising
The Jaguars head into Week 4 with a chance to measure just how real this fast start is, and the stakes are already pointing beyond one Sunday. Jacksonville and Cincinnati each sit at 2-1, which makes this matchup feel less like a mid-September tune-up and more like an early checkpoint in the AFC race, especially with the Jaguars showing real teeth on defense. Jacksonvilles pass defense has been one of the leagues best so far, sitting first in EPA per pass, and that kind of efficiency changes the way opponents have to attack.
Cincinnati brings its own pressure into the meeting, even after a Week 3 defensive step backward that raised a few questions about where this team is headed. The matchup comes with the usual layers of quarterback and personnel intrigue, but it also has the kind of betting interest that tends to follow games with division and playoff implications attached this early. For Jacksonville, the bigger question is whether the defense has truly established itself as a week-to-week edge, or whether this is the first test that forces the Jaguars to answer for more than just a strong opening month. [Read more 🡒]
Jaguars Are Off To A Strong Start But One Doubt Remains
Through three weeks of the 2026 season, Jacksonville has done enough to stay in the early Super Bowl conversation. The Jaguars are 2-1, and Trevor Lawrence has steered the offense efficiently enough to keep them in the mix while other contenders around the league have already taken on some early damage.
Still, the opening month has only sharpened the question that follows any fast start in September: how real is it? Seattle is also 2-1 despite a recent loss, and Cincinnati is right there too even after a surprising setback to Pittsburgh, so the Jaguars are hardly alone near the top of the standings. For Jacksonville, the challenge now is proving that this is more than a good September run and something that can hold up as the season settles in. [Read more 🡒]
Jaguars Fast Start Is Creating A Bigger Contender Debate
The Jaguars fast start has done more than pad the standings. After their Week 3 win over the Patriots, Jacksonville piled up a stack of franchise and league marks that have turned a good opening into a legitimate talking point around the NFL. Liam Coen also reached 15 wins faster than any coach in franchise history, a reminder that this team is moving at a pace the organization has not seen in a while.
A six-game home winning streak and a defense that has been shutting down the run while creating takeaways have helped fuel the surge, and the national power rankings have started to reflect it, with Jacksonville landing anywhere from fifth to 10th. The next question is the one that tends to follow every hot September in Jacksonville: whether this start is just a strong opening or the first real evidence that the Jaguars belong in the contender conversation for real. [Read more 🡒]