JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – I don’t think anyone expected the Jaguars to win on Sunday against the Titans.
But my hope was that they would at least be competitive. It’s the Titans. It’s an AFC South rival. The first meeting between the two this season was a 33-30 slugfest.
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It just wasn’t there. Why not?
We saw positive energy the last two weeks. Jacksonville was a completed two-point conversion away from tying the Browns, and went into overtime last week against the Vikings.
And how do they build off of those games? The Jaguars were awful against Tennessee.
Where was that same energy on Sunday? It looked like they were out of the game mentally midway through the first quarter. No energy. Just an all-around, flat-out, poor effort.
We expected a rugged, physical game. It’s always like that against the Titans. But the Jaguars looked like a team that knew it was going to get manhandled and that knew Tennessee was too physical for them. You blink and it’s 31-3 and no one can tackle Derrick Henry.
Quarterback Mike Glennon was doing nothing. Running back James Robinson never got going.
I think fans were excited to see Gardner Minshew back on the field and he did give a little bit of a jolt to the offense. Vintage Gardner out there. He made some plays, of course, but he’s still not good in the pocket and clearly not on the same page as his receivers. Some of that is rust from not playing. Most of that is just who Minshew is as a quarterback. We know who he is at this point.
I know Doug Marrone didn’t announce his decision after the game, but I can’t imagine going back to Glennon at this point. It’s difficult to justify starting a player who you just benched. In all likelihood, it’s going to be Minshew starting these next three games and the teams seeing what he can do. The Jaguars aren’t comfortable with any of the three quarterbacks they have. You’re not going to see any of those players, Glennon, Jake Luton or Minshew, here long term.
But what a disappointing game in what has been the worst year in franchise history. The Jaguars have three games left to change that direction, where it’s not the worst season we’ve ever had. But it sure does feel like it at this point.