Jaguars come out of bye week hoping to erase issues on offense
Coming out of the bye week, the Jacksonville Jaguars still have one win this season and really nothing to lose in the remaining nine games on their schedule. This is a team that figures to be heavy underdogs in each matchup, the first being this weekend at TIAA Bank Field against the Houston Texans.
The AFC South rival has already fired its head coach and just like the team here in North Florida, will use the offseason to tab their new leader and make changes to the current roster.
It’s a roster which may be void of defensive end J.J. Watt, who has stated he wants to chase a Super Bowl ring, not become part of a rebuilding project.
The Jaguars are a team still spinning from a lack of defensive stability and a new quarterback in Jake Luton, who gets his first start this weekend as a rookie sixth-round draft pick out of Oregon State.
Because of Gardner Minshew’s injured thumb, the timetable on his return is not known. It’s also possible fans may not see Minshew on the field again this season depending on how well Luton picks up the Jay-Gruden-led offensive game plan.
Gruden spoke to the media at his weekly video conference on Tuesday, talking about how the game plan may differ with the rookie under center, but there is still the desire to make it as comfortable as he can for Luton, who will see his first NFL action Sunday.
Head coach Doug Marrone spoke last week about trying different things, working “outside the box” and how he was excited about the final nine games of the 2020 season. Gruden wasn’t specific on what may
change in his offensive showcase this week. The Jaguars scored 29 points in the loss to the Los Angeles Chargers before the bye.
“You always want to have someone to try to create the big play, but you don’t want to panic and have to rely on that,” Gruden said via Jaguars.com. “You want these guys to make plays, let the linemen move people on the front, let James Robinson hit the holes, let’s punish them a little bit, let our receivers get open in man-to-man, and the quarterback read zones and make some plays. Then, if the time’s right and Coach Marrone’s up for it, we’ll try a sprinkle or two in.”
The fans might be happier if a different style of offense or more trickery leads to more points and more wins. The Texans have Deshaun Watson to lead their offense, but it has not been a banner season in Houston.
“Obviously, we’ll always have some kind of trick or some kind of diversionary type play in our playbook.
Whether it gets called or not we’ll never know,” Gruden added.”
