Nick Mullens has been through enough NFL twists to know the job rarely moves in a straight line. Still, even for a quarterback who has played for four teams, started 20 regular-season games, been cut six times and traded once since entering the league in 2017, the Jaguars’ cut-down weekend was a new kind of whiplash.
Mullens was released after Jacksonville brought in Quinn Ewers from the Miami Dolphins, then brought back on the practice squad. The whole sequence landed on Aug. 29-30, and Mullens was still sorting through it when he spoke at his locker after practice on Sept. 9.
“It’s a crazy business,” Mullens told me at his locker after practice on Sept. 9. “You go out there every single day and try to do the job to the best of your ability and trust and rely that it’s good enough and I guess I wasn’t good enough through camp.”
He had started all three preseason games this year after serving as the backup last season, but the Jaguars still made the move. Mullens said he wasn’t going to spend much time arguing the decision.
“It’s the decision they made; I’m just going to leave it at that,” he said. “I was proud of what I did. I know I didn’t score enough touchdowns in the preseason.”
Jacksonville quickly asked him to join the practice squad, and Mullens said the choice to stay was simple.
“Not really (a tough decision to stay) because my options were go hang out at home or help the Jags win football games,” he said. “The people, the culture, the team, the sport of football - there was no reason for me to go anywhere else. I’m glad to still be here.”
The team still hasn’t settled its backup quarterback spot. Before practice on Sept. 11, coach Liam Coen said Jacksonville has not decided whether Ewers or Mullens will be No. 2.
Around the Jaguars, the situation with Parker Washington is moving in a different direction, though not all the way to the finish line yet. The receiver practiced this week without a contract extension, but the talks are still active.
“We’ll continue to keep the talks going,” Washington told me. “I want to be here, the Jags want me here and that’s what it’s all about. Me and (quarterback) Trevor (Lawrence) are on the same page, the receiver room has been great and we’re ready for Sunday and get things rolling.”
He said he and his agent, Zeke Sandhu, stay in close contact.
“We’re in great communication,” Washington said of he and Sandhu. “Whenever there is any type of update, we’re talking.”
Washington’s workload isn’t changing on special teams, either. Even with a larger offensive role expected, Coen said he will remain the punt returner.
“He’s the guy right now, absolutely,” Coen said. “We’ve messed around with a couple of other guys being able to catch punts and do some different things.
At some point, Travis (Hunter) will get some of that stuff, too. We have to continue to put him in positions to get the ball in his hands and see what that looks like.
But right now it’s Parker.”
On the offensive line, the Jaguars shifted Ezra Cleveland back to right guard so rookie Emmanuel Pregnon could get on the field at left guard. Cleveland said the move means adjusting again, but not backing off.
“It’s something I have to deal with,” Cleveland said. “When I moved over to the right side, I started grinding and trying to get as comfortable as possible.”
Grant Udinski pointed to the part of Cleveland’s game that hasn’t changed.
“The one thing that never disappears with Ezra that we love and is kind of the foundation of his play is the finish and the effort and bringing the edge whether it’s in in the run game or pass protection game,” Udinski said.
Pregnon’s first NFL game also drew a little veteran advice from right tackle Cole Van Lanen.
“Just take deep breaths,” Van Lanen said with a laugh. “It’s the same game we’ve played forever.”
Coen also found time to smile about something far from Jacksonville. On Sept. 7, he was asked about UMass’ upset of Rutgers on Sept. 3, a 37-21 win as a 29 1/2-point underdog that snapped a 16-game losing streak and gave the Minutemen their first victory over a Power 4 Conference team.
“That was awesome,” said Coen, who was a record-setting quarterback for UMass when the program played at the FCS level.
He said he reached out afterward.
“I texted UMass administrators and coach Joe Harasymiak after the game,” Coen said.
“The respect I have for Joe as a human being and as a coach, I couldn’t be more proud,” Coen said.
Preparing for Cleveland has also meant a heavier lift than usual. Jaguars pass game specialist John Van Dam has been on advance scouting duty for weeks, but he said the challenge is layered because defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg has never called plays in a regular season game.
“For sure, it’s a high level of difficulty,” Van Dam said. “You have to look at where he’s been, who he’s been with, how he’s been influenced in his career.
You do a little bit of evaluation of the preseason games, but they’re going to keep those vanilla. You have to go into the game with options and then make in-game adjustments.”
Around the league, Baker Mayfield’s new deal with Tampa Bay reset the market conversation again. On Sept. 8, he signed a three-year, $165 million extension, giving him a $55 million average that is tied for third-best with Lawrence, Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow, Buffalo’s Josh Allen, Green Bay’s Jordan Love and the Los Angeles Rams’ Matthew Stafford.
Only Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes at $64 million and Dallas’ Dak Prescott at $60 million are higher. Mahomes and Stafford are also the only quarterbacks in that group who have won Super Bowls.
The NFL also highlighted its “Every Team Has A Chance,” statistics this week, noting that since 1990 there has been a stretch of 36 consecutive years in which at least four new teams have made the playoffs. Last season, six teams got in for the first time: the Jaguars, Carolina, Chicago, New England, San Francisco and Seattle.
And Derrick Henry is creeping toward another marker. Baltimore’s running back, “The Yulee Bulldozer,” needs one rushing touchdown to tie Marcus Allen for third-most in NFL history with 123. Emmitt Smith has 164, LaDainian Tomlinson has 145, and Smith, Tomlinson and Allen are all in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
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