Tag: TEXANS
Jags’ Lawrence on performance against Texans: ‘I played really bad tonight’
There’s a giant leap going from college to the NFL, and we saw an example of that on Sunday.
In his last full season at Clemson, Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the number one overall pick in this year’s draft, threw only five interceptions. However, in his first NFL game against the Texans, Lawrence almost equaled that mark.
Lawrence finished the game 28/51 for 332 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions as the Jags(0-1) were routed by the Texans(1-0) 37-21 at NRG Stadium.
While Lawrence was sacked once, he was under pressure by the Texans’ defense. Despite the interceptions, Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer, who was also making his NFL debut, still has a lot of faith in Lawrence.
“I love Trevor,” Meyer said after the game. “We all do. Trevor is just going to get better and better and better. (He) had a great week of work. Offensive football is about 11 guys doing their job, and the great offenses we’ve all witnessed, and we’ve all been a part of, are when 11 guys are doing their job and executing, and that didn’t happen. So Trevor is going to be great.”
Lawrence completed only 54% of his passes on Sunday and was inaccurate at times against Houston, which surprised Meyer.
“He’s a very accurate passer, and today at times, he wasn’t,” Meyer said. “So we’ve got to find out why.”
According to Lawrence, he didn’t get the job done on Sunday.
“Yeah, obviously sucks,” Lawrence said. “Losing is always hard, especially when you feel like you are prepared and had a great week. Really think we were ready and obviously didn’t play well. It starts with me. I didn’t play well for sure. I played really bad tonight.”
While disappointed in the loss, Lawrence, who is the only rookie in franchise history to throw for 300-plus yards and at least three touchdowns in a single game and is one of nine players in NFL history to throw for 300-plus yards and three touchdowns in their first career start. still has confidence in his team.
“I still believe in this team,” he said. “I still know what we are capable of. We did some good things. We started off with some penalties, three and out. But after that, we had a couple good drives. Hitting some big plays. There’s a lot of good things there, and we have to keep doing those and learn from the bad. We have to watch it and learn from it for sure but then flip the page. It’s a long season; we can’t let this snowball. We have to move on and go win next week. That’s where we are going to start at, but it’s definitely disappointing for sure.”
This game was not all on Lawrence, especially when considering Jacksonville’s defense, which gave up 37 points, including 449 yards of total offense on Sunday. Tough loss for Jacksonville, and a rough start for Lawrence, but the future is still bright for him and this team.
Report: Ezekiel Elliott tests positive for COVID-19
One thing we have learned about COVID-19 is that it does not discriminate. Rich, poor, young, or old, COVID-19 has impacted many people, including Ezekiel Elliott.
According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, Elliott, along with other members of the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans, have tested positive for COVID-19.
At this point, Elliott, whose agent confirmed with Rapoport that Zeke has COVID-19 but is ‘feeling good,’ is the only player from the Texans and Cowboys that has been confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19.
Back in April, the 24-year-old Elliott attended a party at his teammate, Dak Prescott’s house, which, according to reports, had as many as 30 people in attendance. However, according to Prescott, ‘fewer than ten people’ attended the party.
You wonder how this will impact the NFL, which, at this point, is scheduled to start on time, but reportedly may have a shortened preseason. In the end, hopefully, Elliott and others will fully recover.
Texans, Cowboys, Vikings, can clinch playoff spots in Week 16
It’s crunch time in the NFL. With two games left, the Ravens, Chiefs, Bills, and Patriots have clinched playoff spots in the AFC, and in the NFC, the Saints, Packers, Seahawks, and 49ers are in the playoffs. There are four spots left to be filled(two in each conference) and a lot of meaningful football to be played.
Here are the playoff scenarios for Week 16 in the NFL:
AFC
CLINCHED:
Baltimore Ravens – AFC North division
Kansas City Chiefs – AFC West division
Buffalo Bills – playoff berth
New England Patriots – playoff berth
BALTIMORE RAVENS (12-2) (at Cleveland (6-8), Sunday, 1:00 PM ET, CBS)
Baltimore clinches a first-round bye with:
-
BAL win or tie OR
-
KC loss or tie OR
-
NE loss
Baltimore clinches homefield advantage throughout AFC playoffs with:
-
BAL win OR
-
BAL tie + NE loss or tie OR
-
KC loss or tie + NE loss
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (11-3) (vs. Buffalo (10-4), Saturday, 4:30 PM ET, NFL Network)
New England clinches AFC East division with:
-
NE win or tie
New England clinches a first-round bye with:
-
NE win + KC loss or tie OR
-
NE tie + KC loss
HOUSTON TEXANS (9-5) (at Tampa Bay (7-7), Saturday, 1:00 PM ET, NFL Network)
Houston clinches AFC South division with:
-
HOU win OR
-
HOU tie + TEN tie OR
-
TEN loss
Houston clinches a playoff berth with:
-
HOU tie + PIT tie OR
-
PIT loss
NFC
CLINCHED:
New Orleans Saints – NFC South division
Green Bay Packers – playoff berth
San Francisco 49ers – playoff berth
Seattle Seahawks – playoff berth
GREEN BAY PACKERS (11-3) (at Minnesota (10-4), Monday, 8:15 PM ET, ESPN)
Green Bay clinches NFC North division with:
-
GB win or tie
DALLAS COWBOYS (7-7) (at Philadelphia (7-7), Sunday, 4:25 PM ET, FOX)
Dallas clinches NFC East division with:
-
DAL win
MINNESOTA VIKINGS (10-4) (vs. Green Bay (11-3), Monday, 8:15 PM ET, ESPN)
Minnesota clinches a playoff berth with:
-
MIN win or tie OR
-
LAR loss or tie
Jags’ Bouye: ‘We don’t really get a lot of credit after Jalen [Ramsey] left’
The Jacksonville Jaguars are back to .500 after defeating the Jets 29-15 at home on Sunday. After losing Nick Foles to injury in Week 1 and dealing with the issues with Jalen Ramsey before trading him away to the Rams, Jacksonville(4-4) has faced a lot of adversity, but through it all, they battled, and now it’s off to London to face the Texans.
“You know, we don’t really get a lot of credit after Jalen [Ramsey] left, so hopefully we just keep earning it every day,” Jaguars corner A.J. Bouye said after the game. “But, that’s just a good job on the guys staying together. [DL Calais Campbell] has done a great job of just keeping us together in the locker room and everybody else.”
Jacksonville is on a two-game winning streak, and next Sunday’s game against the Texans(5-3) is huge for this team. The last time these two teams played was in Week 2 in Houston, which was Gardner Minshew’s first career start. Jacksonville lost that game in heartbreaking fashion to the Texans 13-12 after the Jaguars failed on a two-point conversion to take the lead late in the contest.
“We’re going up against a good team(Texans) in London,” Bouye said. “They’re in the run for the [AFC South] Division, too. We know what happened last game, so we’ve just got to stay ready this game.”
If Jacksonville wants to win the AFC South, they have to beat the Texans. A loss to the Texans would give Houston basically a three-game lead over Jacksonville because of the head-to-head tiebreaker. Also, while Jacksonville is 1.5 games behind the first-place Colts(5-2) in the division, the Jaguars play Indianapolis two times in their final eight games, so if the Jaguars want to make their move in AFC South, the time is now.
Marrone, Jaguars’ players react to two-point try late in game
The Jacksonville Jaguars had a hard time getting into the end zone against the Texans on Sunday, but late in the game with the Jaguars down 13-6, they were able to put together a scoring drive, which ended with Gardner Minshew hitting D.J. Chark in the back of the end zone to cut the lead to one.
However, instead of going for the tie, the Jaguars decided to go for two, which ended up being unsuccessful as Leonard Fournette was denied the end zone on the two-point try, and the Jaguars would lose to Houston on the road 13-12. With the loss, the Jaguars fall to 0-2.
After the game, Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone and players gave their thoughts on the decision to go for two.
Jaguars Head coach Doug Marrone:
Q: What went into the decision to go with Leonard Fournette up the middle when Fournette up the middle hadn’t had a lot of success during the game? What was the thinking there on that one?
Marrone: “We had a bunch of different plays called. So in other words, we had a play for Cover 0, we had a play for Red 2. We had a play for single-high man, we had a play for bear man, and really at the end of the day, we were fine with either one. Again, you come up a couple inches short and we lost the game. It was a decision that I made prior to
us getting the last possession. I said that if we returned the punt for touchdown with DD then I was probably going for go for the extra point. They said if we start driving this football and we score with a certain amount of time left, I said I’m going to go for two.”
DE Calais Campbell:
Q: Did every player on the sideline want to go for the two-point conversion?
Campbell: “Yeah, honestly from the angles we saw we were celebrating on the field. We thought that was two points. Obviously, I know it has to be definitive and that’s just the nature of the game. You put it in the referees’ hands, and it could go either way. But we made a lot of mistakes and we didn’t play as good as we could’ve, but we still had a chance to win at the end. So, it’s something we can learn from. We’ll grade the tape, and we’ll try to just keep getting better one game at a time.”
WR D.J. Chark:
Q: Did you like the call to go for two?
Chark: “Yeah. Because that’s the team we want to be. We don’t want to play it safe. We want to go get the win. Even after the call and the way it turned out, I still believe, like Myles (Jack) said, I believe that was a touchdown. I’m going to ride for my team, my coaches and Leonard (Fournette). And I think that we got that.”
RB Leonard Fournette:
Q: Can you talk about the last play, and from your vantage point did you think you got in the end zone?
“Yeah, I thought I got in when I reached the ball. But apparently, they (referees) thought otherwise.”
Q: When you all decided to go for it I assume most of you guys were thinking ‘Let’s go, let’s win it now,’
Fournette: “Yeah, we wanted to win. At the end of the day, that’s all this game is about is winning.”
Q: When you all decided to go for it I assume most of you guys were thinking ‘Let’s go, let’s win it now,’
Fournette: “It’s up to the Coach. He believed we that we could win it. We believed we could win it. It’s not just that play, but a lot of plays before that on both sides that kind of we could have sealed the game. But like I said, it’s football, things happen.”
QB Gardner Minshew:
Q: Did you like the call to go for two?
Minshew: “Yeah. Felt really good about the call. Had the right look. Leonard (Fournette) was close. I thought he got it. That’s how it goes sometimes. I bet ten times out of ten for him right there to get in there.”
Marrone on Minshew: ‘I think he’s going to be defined by how he plays on Sunday’
Jaguars rookie QB Gardner Minshew was not expected to play much or at all in 2019. However, the unexpected happened. Last week against the Chiefs, in his first game as Jacksonville’s starter, QB Nick Foles suffered a broken left clavicle that will keep him out until at least November. Now, it’s Minshew’s show until Foles comes back or until the Jaguars decide otherwise.
The sixth-round pick out Washington State was impressive against Kansas City last Sunday. Minshew completed 22 of 25 passes for 275 yards, 2 TDs, 1 int. However, this week, Minshew will have to go on the road as the Jaguars(0-1) battle the Houston Texans(0-1) on Sunday.
When asked what his comfort level is with Minshew as the starter, Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone has this to say.
“I don’t know,” Marrone said on Friday. “I don’t think I said anything earlier in the week; you know what I mean? Like I said, he’s a unique guy, and I think he’s going to be defined by how he plays on Sunday.”
You wonder what the patience level will be for Minshew. The Jaguars did acquire another young QB in Joshua Dobbs from the Steelers last week, and while the third-year player does not have a lot of experience, he does have more experience than Minshew.
It would be nice if Minshew could have another solid performance, but based on his experience and what we have seen in the preseason, don’t be surprised if he struggles against the Texans on Sunday.
Marrone on Watson: ‘Probably competes for the MVP’
Even in a loss, Houston Texans QB Deshaun Watson showed the league that he is special. Against the Saints on Monday night, the third-year quarterback accounted for four touchdowns, including one on the ground, and he put the Texans in position to win before Saints K Wil Lutz made a 58-yard FG at the buzzer as New Orleans defeated the Texans 30-28 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
In his short time in the league, the 23-year-old Watson has proven to be a play-maker, and as he demonstrated on Monday night, has shown the ability to be clutch. In 2018, Watson had five game-winning drives.
According to Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone, whose Jaguars travel to Houston to face Watson and the Texans on Sunday, Watson could win MVP in 2019.
“(Watson)Probably competes for the MVP. I can’t say anything more than that,” Marrone said on Wednesday. “Last week, we saw the 2018 MVP in Patrick Mahomes who played like an MVP. We are going in and playing against another quarterback who has the same amount of skill, the same amount of ability, and I think it’ll be between those two guys who’s going to be the MVP. I’m sure someone else will start playing well down the road, but right now those guys just took it Week 1, but those two guys are playing really well.”
Last season, Watson threw for 4165 yards and 26 touchdowns, and he rushed for 551 yards and scored five touchdowns on the ground, and If Watson continues to play as well as he did on Monday, he would be in the running for MVP. However, Watson does take a lot of hits, and he was sacked six times against the Saints. All that must change if he wants to finish the season healthy, but for now, Watson is definitely off to a great start.
Alfred Blue signs with Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars have signed six-year veteran RB Alfred Blue, the club announced today.
According to ProFootballTalk.com, it’s a one-year deal.
“I feel like we are building up the offense, and I’m excited to be a part of it,” Blue said. “I can say one thing about the Jaguars [after playing against them] – they do have a hell of a defense. That’s a good thing, and I’m glad to be here.”
Blue, 6’2, 225 was originally selected by Houston in the sixth round (181st overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft and has appeared in 73 games with 16 starts, all for the Texans. For his career, Blue has totaled 2,407 rushing yards and eight rushing TDs, while also adding 69 receptions for 470 yards.
In 2018, Blue played in all 16 games and rushed for 499 yards and two TDs and recorded career highs in receptions (20) and receiving yards (154). Blue has carried the ball at least 100 times in four of his five NFL seasons, including a career-most 183 carries in 2015 when he gained a team-high 698 yards.
NFL announces matchups for the five international regular-season games in 2019
The National Football League today announced the matchups for its five 2019 international regular-season games – four in the UK and one in Mexico.
The quality of the 2019 international offering is apparent in three division games and five playoff participants, including the NFC Champion Los Angeles Rams. Two of the four London Games will feature teams playing in the UK for the first time, while Mexico City will host a meeting of long-time AFC West division rivals.
The 2019 international games:
| Country | Visiting Team | Home Team |
| Mexico | Kansas City Chiefs | Los Angeles Chargers |
| UK | Carolina Panthers | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| UK | Chicago Bears | Oakland Raiders |
| UK | Cincinnati Bengals | Los Angeles Rams |
| UK | Houston Texans | Jacksonville Jaguars |
Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium will host a matchup between the AFC West rival Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers. Both teams, who finished the 2018 regular season with identical 12-4 records, will be playing in Mexico City for the first time.
The AFC South champion Houston Texans – who face the division-rival Jacksonville Jaguars – and the Carolina Panthers – who face their NFC South foes the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – will both make their London debuts. It will bring the total number of NFL teams to have played in the UK to 31 in 28 regular-season games by the end of the 2019 season. The Jaguars will be playing a home game in London for the seventh consecutive season.
The Rams, who will face the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII, will host a London game for the fourth time when they take on the Cincinnati Bengals, while the Oakland Raiders will return to London for the second straight year, facing the NFC North division champion Chicago Bears.
The NFL will play two games at Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium, with two at Wembley Stadium.
Dates, kickoff times and venues for all international games will be announced in conjunction with the release of the full NFL schedule this spring.